In Pasadena, a fight over toxic soil has turned into a standoff in the branches. Environmental activists, students, and veteran tree-sitters have been chaining themselves to mature trees on Pasadena Unified School District campuses, protesting a plan to cut down 193 of them as part of a post-wildfire cleanup, the Washington Post reports. The district, working with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, says the trees must go so crews can safely remove soil tainted by lead and arsenic after the deadly Eaton Fire 18 months ago. Opponents argue many of the trees are protected by a city ordinance and that other remediation methods haven't been seriously considered.
The city of Pasadena issued a stop-work order and obtained a warrant to inspect the trees with an arborist, but the district contends its project is outside city authority and has continued removals. Some videos from campuses show tree limbs "falling in close proximity to demonstrators," per Local News Pasadena. The district has pledged to save up to 57 trees and replace those cut, but one organizer says trading decades-old canopy for saplings is, in her view, "a myth" of one-for-one replacement. One protester noted that the western sycamores she was protecting were 160 years old. Activists stalled the felling of three American sweet gums at John Muir High School on Thursday; how long they'll stand is unclear.
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