Business
Altadena’s latest roadblock to rebuilding: Sewage
Michele Hanisee has been doing everything in her power to expedite the arduous process of rebuilding her Altadena home.
But after navigating permitting delays, insurance stalemates and design flaws, there’s still one big unresolved issue that’s complicating her progress: sewage.
Hanisee owns one of nearly 700 properties in Altadena that’s never had sewer lines, instead operating for decades on now-outdated septic tanks or even more archaic and environmentally hazardous cesspools.
L.A. County officials — and many residents, included Hanisee — would like to connect these pockets of Altadena to the county sewage system.
But the cash-strapped county government said it simply cannot afford the estimated $70 million the new lines would cost. And although officials hope the county can eventually acquire state and federal funding for the project, the lack of certainty on the issue has left hundreds of fire survivors in a stalemate.
“Do I build [with] septic or wait for a sewer line?” said Hanisee, 59. She said this issue has been particularly frustrating as the county promised expedited rebuilding permits; “It doesn’t help much if they don’t expedite the infrastructure work,” she said.
It’s also a major financial concern. Several fire survivors in this situation told The Times that they feel torn between planning for an upgrade to county-run sewers, or just moving ahead with rebuilding and improving their onsite wastewater systems. Either option could bring hefty costs, particularly if the county doesn’t end up paying for the sewer line upgrade and it falls on residents. The worst-case scenario, many said, would be fixing up their septic system to meet current requirements, and subsequently having to pay for the sewer line installation and connection later on.
“How do you move forward when you don’t know how much money you have to spend on the build?” Hanisee said.
On Alpine Villa Drive, shown May 1, 2026, homes have mostly operated on now-outdated cesspool systems for sewage.
County officials say they are aware of the quagmire facing these residents, yet they have no timeline for — or guarantee of — a resolution on the issue.
“Everything comes back to money,” said Anish Saraiya, the Altadena recovery director for L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “We have more than $2.5 billion worth of public infrastructure we have to rebuild, including these sewers.”
He said the county remains hopeful that Congress will come through with $16 billion requested in federal aid for the region’s recovery from the Eaton and Palisades fires, which could be used on the sewer project — but that hasn’t yet been allocated or even promised. His team also is exploring potential state funding or other outside money, he said.
But even if the cash were available tomorrow, Saraiya noted that the engineering and construction could be lengthy, and the project could be completed after homes that need it are otherwise ready to be occupied.
“There are a lot of uncertainties,” Saraiya said. “We feel confident we can secure the funding necessary to make sure that it’s not an obligation on homeowners, but that is a bit of a timing challenge.”
Michele Hanisee is trying to rebuild her home on Gaywood Drive as fast as possible. But she said it’s hard to move forward with looming uncertainty around her home’s sewage system.
Timing, however, is of the essence for fire survivors. Many say they can’t afford to lose momentum on their rebuild, concerned about losing contractors, rising construction costs or how additional delays could further shrink their already-dwindling insurance payouts for temporary housing.
Others feel completely stymied by this latest headache, which only builds on other unexpected costs and hurdles in an already complicated process.
“Will we be forced to go onto the sewer?” said Patricia Anderson, Hanisee’s neighbor, who still hasn’t decided whether she can or will rebuild. “And will we have a big expense for that? Those kind of issues are a concern.”
Patricia Anderson, 83, would love to rebuild her Altadena lot on Gaywood Drive, but the lack of clarity around potential sewage upgrades for her street has exacerbated the already overwhelming process.
About half of the 682 lots with on-site sewage systems — most of which are septic tanks — experienced fire damage or total destruction, according to county records. These systems, scattered across Altadena, “pose significant risks of groundwater contamination, surface water pollution and potential public health hazards,” according to a statement from the L.A. County Department of Public Works. But the department noted that replacing all of them at once is a large-scale project that “requires a level of cross-departmental integration that has historically been difficult to achieve in disaster recovery settings.”
So far, the county has funded technical planning for the sewer expansion, but environmental reviews, feasibility studies and securing resident permissions — as many of the affected streets are private — have not been completed.
Even though county officials hope to find a way to pay for a widespread sewer upgrade, they’ve also presented residents with an option to form small community improvement districts, or property tax assessment groups, to finance small portions of municipal sewer lines. About a dozen neighborhood groups are considering that option, but many fire survivors worry it only adds to their already-squeezed budgets; estimates of up to $70,000 per lot have been circling neighborhood group chats, if not more. The county’s estimate of the cost by parcel is actually higher: between $85,000 and $134,000, depending on a property’s location and topography.
But the idea of a fragmented sewer installation and residents footing the bill misses the context of this moment, said Morgan Whirledge, a new representative on the Altadena Town Council, which can pass along concerns or recommendations to Los Angeles County leaders, but holds no real governing power or spending authority. He is a fire survivor whose home previously ran on a cesspool system.
“This work presents an opportunity to coordinate,” Whirledge said, noting ongoing undergrounding of power lines by Southern California Edison and other widescale construction. “You don’t want to come rip a street up twice.”
The county’s Department of Public Works has said that residents rebuilding like-for-like, without major changes to the size or setup of their home, can continue to use on-site septic systems, if they’re in good condition. But any other rebuild requires additional testing and potential upgrades or expansions.
Morgan Whirledge surveys the initial stages of rebuilding at his Altadena lot on May 1, 2026, including where his outdated cesspool system still sits underground.
If residents are willing to take a gamble on the unfunded sewer expansion project, rebuilds can be approved “with the intent to connect later, even if the sewer installation isn’t yet scheduled,” the Public Works Department statement said.
Barger, Altadena’s most direct governmental representative, said she understands this is an issue “that can slow recovery if we don’t get it right.”
“My focus is on finding a path forward that gives residents clarity, avoids unnecessary costs, and ensures we’re rebuilding Altadena in a way that is sustainable for decades to come — not just patching together short-term fixes,” Barger said in a statement.
Some worry that 16 months after the fire, it’s already too late for that.
Hanisee is still waiting on her permits, which if approved, include plans to connect to a new county-run sewer, which she hopes isn’t too optimistic.
“There’s this huge unknown liability for people whose streets didn’t have a sewer line,” Hanisee said. “We just want to go home and also not be forced to sell and leave because of all these issues that are creating obstacles to rebuilding.”
Because she’s not building like-for-like, if she ends up needing to rely on her old septic tank, it will require additional testing and possibly an expansion or update, both of which would add more costs to her rebuild. She also worries that she’ll end up having to pay for the new sewage lines.
What once felt like quirks of their Altadena neighborhood — helping upkeep the road, running on a cesspool — “all these things … have turned into nightmares,” Whirledge said. “It’s this cumulative effect of these incremental cost increases and complicating factors. That can be a huge blow at a time when you’re already really vulnerable.”
He and his family transitioned from the cesspool to septic for their rebuild, while also building for the possibility of a future sewer line connection — a plan he realizes is cost-prohibitive for many fire survivors, especially when there’s still a real chance that residents have to fund the new sewer line.
Decommissioning his old cesspool and buying the new septic tank already cost almost $10,000, he said, and installation and testing could easily triple that. His insurance policy does provide some reimbursement for code upgrades, but he said it won’t come close to the costs the family is facing.
“It’s a lot of money,” Whirledge said, “especially for something you want to never have to think about.”
A worker pumps sewage from a portable toilet on the property of Morgan Whirledge, who is in the initial stages of rebuilding at his Altadena lot.
American Airlines is joining the list of airlines suspending flights to and from Los Angeles International Airport this summer.
It announced a temporary suspension of nonstop flight routes out of LAX to Cleveland, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Washington Dulles airports. The suspension is set to last through August and September due to rising fuel prices resulting from the conflict in Iran.
American Airlines is not alone in this decision.
In April, Norse Atlantic Airways canceled all of its summer flights out of LAX to Europe, including destinations like London, Paris and Rome.
Allegiant Airlines also canceled its LAX operations in January, rerouting flights out of Hollywood Burbank Airport instead. To keep ticket prices down and align with its low-cost airfare model, Burbank was a better airport for the Los Angeles area due to lower operational costs than LAX.
With the conflict ongoing and the flow of oil uncertain, the cost of jet fuel could continue to rise, leaving more flight routes in jeopardy, especially in states like California.
Jet fuel prices in Los Angeles have jumped more than 40% since the conflict in the Middle East started. Airlines are adding baggage surcharges to cover fuel costs. Several routes leaving from smaller California hubs, including Sacramento and Burbank, have already been canceled.
As fuel supplies shrink, flight prices are rising.
The West Coast is a “fuel island” because it’s not connected by pipelines to the rest of the country, United Airlines Chief Executive Scott Kirby said in an interview in March. That means oil and refined products have to be brought in by ships.
“Fuel price is more susceptible to supply weakness on the West Coast than anywhere else in the country,” Kirby said.
A statement from American Airlines said it will not be suspending any of these routes indefinitely, and service to these cities from LAX will still be available with American Airlines, but a connection will be required.
American Airlines shares, which have fallen more than 13% so far this year, fell 2% Thursday to $13.30.
California, the epicenter of the artificial intelligence boom, continues to grow its economy faster than the nation, but more people are losing their jobs and the cost of living remains high.
New economic indicators released this week show how the Golden State is grappling with the effects of the Iran war, as well as an AI explosion, which is driving huge investments as well as layoffs.
The state’s unemployment rate reached 5.3% in April, roughly 1 percentage point higher than the nation’s. California’s unemployment rate is expected to peak at 5.6% later this year, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast released this week.
The state outpaced the nation in economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2025. It probably continued to outgrow the country in the first three months of this year, the report said.
“Income and output will continue to grow faster than the U.S. even as employment growth is tepid,” senior economist Jerry Nickelsburg wrote in the forecast. “Once past the current weakness, expected by the middle of next year, a tech, durable goods manufacturing, and construction resurgence should lead to superior growth in both employment and income in the Golden State once again.”
The state’s growth is being bolstered by many local companies that are attracting and spending hundreds of billions of dollars in the race to build the software and infrastructure needed for AI. However, there are signs that the same race may be leading to fewer jobs in some sectors.
From January to May, U.S. tech employers announced 123,653 job cuts, up 66% from the same period a year earlier, according to a report Thursday by global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. California had close to 77,000 job cuts across all sectors, double the number of any other state.
Although AI was cited more often than any other reason for cuts, the layoffs haven’t been as bad as the pessimists feared, said Andy Challenger, a labor and workplace expert and chief revenue officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
“AI isn’t yet the jobpocalypse some predicted,” he said in a statement. “Like spreadsheets and email before it, the technology will ultimately make workers more productive.”
California has seen job growth in sectors including healthcare and social services. But entertainment, tech and manufacturing businesses have been cutting back.
UCLA’s outlook paints a mixed picture of California’s future, one filled with uncertainty as the Iran war pushes up fuel prices, inflation rises, government policy changes and tariffs disrupt supply chains.
The state is particularly vulnerable to the effect of the war on Iran because it uses pricey low-emissions gasoline, and California ports accept cargo on ships that require large amounts of more expensive oil, according to the forecast.
California also is more dependent on oil from outside the country than other states.
The Iran war has caused gas prices to jump. Above, prices are at and over $6 a gallon at a station in Los Angeles on June, 2, 2026.
(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
It’s still too early to predict the fallout from the war on Iran, but economists expect it to negatively affect employment by the end of this year and into 2027, the quarterly forecast from UCLA said. It projected that national real GDP growth would shrink from around 2.3% this year to 1.8% next year.
The UCLA report did not provide a state GDP forecast, but said early indicators suggest California continues to outperform the country. Last year, the national real GDP growth rate was around 2%, the report said. California’s was closer to 2.5%, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Some are concerned that AI could worsen what’s called a “K-shaped” economy, in which the rich see growth and most other people struggle with stagnating opportunities. In California, it could also lead to an “E-shaped” economy, in which low, medium and high-income people each see slight growth.
That depends on whether AI ends up helping workers or replacing them, economist William Yu said.
“If it’s labor substitution, we are going to see this [as] more of a K-shaped economy. If it’s more of labor augmentation, we’re going to see more of [an] E-shaped economy,” he said at a conference about the report.
Tech companies say they are using AI to do more with fewer people. Yu said a lot of the AI spending is going into building out AI data centers rather than hiring.
Citing data from job search website Indeed, AI appears to be slowing down growth in software, information technology, marketing and media job postings, he said. But demand for civil and electrical engineers remains high. AI might not be affecting those roles, or reindustrialization policies are boosting hiring in those areas.
The Kars4Kids jingle is back on the air in California after being ordered off the airwaves last month.
The catchy jingle that has been getting stuck in heads for nearly three decades was pulled from the air after a California man took Kars4Kids to court for false advertising.
The man said he donated an old car to the charity, believing it would be used to benefit children in need. He was unaware that Kars4Kids gives the donations to another organization, Oorah, that uses the money to fund Jewish youth trips to Israel.
The Orange County court originally ruled the jingle a violation of California’s false advertising law for failing to disclose its religious affiliations, and it was subsequently pulled from the airwaves. Kars4Kids filed an appeal, and the court has ruled the jingle can stay on the air throughout the appeals process.
“Kars4Kids applauds today’s court ruling allowing its ads to continue airing in California while the appeals process continues,” a spokesperson for Kars4Kids said. “The uninterrupted airing of its ads will enable the charity to continue funding its programs for children and families. We believe the lower court’s findings on the facts and the law were deeply flawed, and we look forward to pursuing a broad appeal of that decision.”
Kars4Kids has run into allegations of false advertising before. Oregon and Pennsylvania also took the charity to court over the misleading jingle in 2009, resulting in a $130,000 fine and a requirement to disclose its affiliations in all advertisements.
A Kars4Kids spokesperson said last month that its website clearly states its Jewish affiliation.
“We believe this case was nothing more than a lawyer-driven attempt to siphon off charitable funds for their own gain,” the spokesperson said. “The law and the facts are clearly on our side.”
The nonprofit using the funds gathered by Kars4Kids has also previously used the donations for a matchmaking program for Jewish young adults and to purchase a $16.5 million building in Israel.
While the jingle could be pulled from the air again depending on the result of the appeal, for now, it will remain a part of your morning commute in California.
-
Lifestyle10 minutes agoSunday Puzzle: NBA Team Names
-
Technology20 minutes agoThe 7 biggest storylines from Summer Game Fest 2026
-
World25 minutes agoSuspected Hamas terrorist arrested in Greece for allegedly plotting attack on Israeli cruise ship
-
Politics32 minutes agoSpencer Pratt’s runner-up edge over Democrat Raman down to 1%, few thousand ballots
-
Health35 minutes agoThis exercise habit may slash dementia risk and help you live longer, study finds
-
Sports40 minutes agoDanish soccer star suffers medical scare during match years after on-field cardiac arrest
-
Technology47 minutes agoIs Apple Intelligence on your iPhone really secure?
-
Business50 minutes ago
More airlines suspend LAX routes due to high fuel costs
