How safe is L.A.’s post-fire soil? UCLA’s Sanjay Mohanty is helping homeowners get the information they need

As cleanup from the wildfires in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena continues, many homeowners in impacted areas remain concerned about the soil quality on their properties and in their neighborhoods.

Sanjay Mohanty, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, is using his laboratory to provide victims of the blazes with information and answers.

Mohanty is one of several experts, including UCLA environmental health sciences professor Yifang Zhu, working with the Community Action Project-Los Angeles, or CAP.LA, a data-informed civic initiative funded by the R&S Kayne Foundation that aims to expedite the recovery process and empower homeowners and businesses following the wildfires. Currently, the project is offering to test soil and water samples from yards, gardens and pools - free of charge. Environmental researchers from Loyola Marymount University and Purdue University are also involved.

"At UCLA, I do free soil testing, where we go out and collect soil samples from different locations which are affected by fire," he said.

Mohanty and his team use spectrometry techniques to test for heavy metals like lead and arsenic, human-made PFAS (so-called "forever chemicals") and other potentially hazardous pollutants. His hope, he said, is that "homeowners can have peace of mind and go back and live in their house."

Mohanty's broader research looks at the impact of urban development and climate extremes - including wildfires, droughts and flooding - on soil and water quality. Through his work, he seeks to develop climate-resilient solutions for remediating contaminated land and treating stormwater to enable water reuse.

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