The County is in Phase II of the Debris Removal Program resulting from the wildfires in October 2017. Phase II is the removal of fire-related debris from structures destroyed by the fire, and is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) under the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Below is important information on the Debris Removal process in Mendocino County.

Debris Removal

• USACE is committed to completing the mission in early 2018 to help communities prepare for rebuilding.
• Property owners with questions about eligibility, operations or other concerns can contact the USACE Debris Removal Information Line at 877-875-7681. The line is staffed 8 a.m. – 7 p.m., 7 days a week.
• Debris removal is not the only component of the process – other ongoing actions include site assessments; EPA asbestos removal; soil testing; and installation of final erosion control measures after all the debris removal is complete.
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), with the support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has launched a website designed to give a quick view of the status of debris removal by parcel in Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties. Owners can see the status of their property by visiting http://www.spk.usace.army.mil/CAwildfire and clicking on the Status Map button. The site also shows:
  • Right-of-Entry (ROE) forms processed; meaning an ROE form has been received by the county and sent to USACE for processing.
  • Parcel in process; which means the site is somewhere in the process for the site assessment, initial soil sampling and debris removal has begun.
  • Confirmation sampling pending; meaning debris removal has been completed and final soil sampling is being conducted.
  • Parcel transferred to County; which means that a letter has been sent to the County stating that the site has passed final testing and the parcel has been cleared.

Contractor Information

• During the clean-up, homeowners should expect to see contractors and staff from the US Army Corps of Engineers in the area. Both the contractors and Army Corps of Engineers employees will be carrying identification and will also be wearing visibility clothing with logos.
• After USACE received the debris removal mission assignment from FEMA in late October 2017, they utilized the USACE Advanced Contracting Initiative (ACI) to award task orders (contracts) to ECC and AshBritt to jumpstart the debris removal process.
• These task orders have financial limits and ECC, which started debris removal operations first, is approaching the limit of its task order. The public will see some adjustments in how and where their ECC crews operate. ECC will complete removal on all properties on which it has begun debris clearance.
• USACE recently awarded a new contract to AshBritt which will now be working in all four counties, not just Sonoma County as initially assigned.
• There will be changes in debris removal activity for a few weeks during the transition to this new contract. AshBritt is mobilizing in Mendocino County. For those wishing to pursue subcontracting opportunities, individuals should contact AshBritt at www.ashbritt.com or (954) 725-6992.

Anyone who has questions can call the USACE debris removal line at 877-875-7681 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. or email USACESupporttoMendocino@usace.army.mil.