by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Sustainable Claremont volunteers recently helped two Altadena homeowners affected by the Eaton Fire by applying locally made compost and mulch to a dozen trees.

“We came there and put compost and put a berm around the trees just to help water stay near the trees, so it’ll help percolate it down rather than just rushing straight to the street and go into our storm drain,” said Romeo Lodia, Sustainable Claremont’s community compost and climate resilient home program manager.

“It felt good, you know, and I’m happy that the homeowners were happy about them because I guess they inherited the home from their parents and the trees have been there for that long,” Lodia said. “We gave them, some sort of reassurance that the trees will be able to rebound. I mean, we did all we can, right? Like there’s no guarantee.”

Most of those affected by the Eaton Fire are still waiting for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to clear toxins, Lodia said.

“Their priority was basically clearing all the contaminants where the household used to be,” he said. “Let’s say your front yard and backyard they don’t really touch that, so it’s actually still contaminated with lead and arsenic and all that stuff. There’s a lot of need from the residents on what to do. There’s a lot of call for natural soil remediation, and we have a contact with Sustainable Claremont who has a degree in soil science and she feels as though laying compost on those areas would actually help remove some of those contaminants.”

The compost used in the Altadena projects was made at sites across Claremont Unified School District. Sustainable Claremont invites the public to use compost from its CUSD sites. Go to sustainableclaremont.org for more information.