Top: Compost filter socks were deployed around storm drains, as well as burned building sites and roadways. Photo courtesy of Jackson Webster

Following the wildfires in Los Angeles in January, 2025, approximately one million linear feet of compost filter socks were deployed around burned building sites, storm drains and along roadways, to filter out contaminants and retain sediment in stormwater runoff. The compost filter socks stayed throughout the rainier winter and early spring, and some are still in place around sites where the next phase of cleanup and remediation has yet to begin. Part II of Juliana Beecher’s article series on use of compost tools in wildfire remediation in California, will look at the use of compost-based products following the Los Angeles fires. (Part I covered remediation following the Camp Fire.) Robert Horowitz with Horowitz Engineering (and former organics unit manager at CalRecycle), sent BioCycle the following announcement:

“We are looking for researchers, lab experts and sample takers in the Los Angeles area to continue important research on the ability of erosion control products — especially compost filter socks — to capture common toxic compounds left behind by wildfires on the urban interface. Many of the socks installed in the aftermath of the fires in and around Los Angeles are still in the field. We realize sources of funding for environmental research have diminished due to federal cutbacks. With a well-reasoned research proposal building on what has been done so far, we can help you seek alternative sources of funding to keep your labs and grad students gainfully employed. You will be building on science important for California and anywhere else wildfires are increasing in frequency and intensity. Contact horowitzenv@gmail.com if you are interested.”