Officers visit junk-filled Sun Valley property — once probed by the feds — after owner misses court

Nearly five years after she first faced legal action, the owner of a property in Sun Valley that's filled with junk, debris, abandoned vehicles and even lead-contaminated soil, according to federal authorities, now has a bench warrant after missing court.

Mary Ferrera currently faces three city code violations as the owner, according to the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, years after the LA County Fire Department called in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assist in an investigation into the property — where abandoned vehicles, car tires, piles of metal, plastic, and other debris still remain scattered across a dirt field on the nearly 10,000-square foot lot. 

On Thursday, a day after Ferrera missed an appearance in court, police patrol vehicles were seen parked just outside the property while some officers walked through the premises holding notebooks and looking through the piles of debris, aerial footage shows. LAPD confirmed officers were there investigating.

No one was arrested Thursday, police said.

The city of Los Angeles was first notified about the home located in the 8600 block of La Tuna Canyon in 2019, according to LA Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who represents the 7th District which encompasses the area. A case was filed with the Department of Building and Safety and then accepted by the city attorney in November 2019. 

A court date scheduled in September 2020 was canceled due to COVID and then another date was scheduled for May 2021. Two months later, the EPA released a report on its probe into some contaminants found at the property.

The property owner was previously sentenced to 180 days in jail over the issue. 

"Of which, she only served one," Rodriguez said.

The councilwoman held a news conference last month to speak out about the ongoing legal saga, which started with complaints from neighbors and led to a federal probe. "The city of Los Angeles can't go onto private properties to clear these cases," she said.

In July 2021, the EPA released a report calling the Los Angeles County property "an unlicensed vehicle dismantler and illegal landfill" which has a vacant, burned down house on its grounds. A pair of shipping containers on the property have been converted into homes where people are living, in addition to another trailer at the site, according to the report.

There were 109 vehicles found on the property and at least eight soil samples detected levels of lead, arsenic, cobalt and copper exceeding government-mandated safety standards, the report says. 

The EPA also noted that an LA County fire road that runs through the site is blocked by the piles of junk, a particular area of concern given that part of the county is especially prone to wildfires. In fact, Mary Ferrera — whose son lives on the property, according to EPA officials — told the Los Angeles Times earlier this year that her son started hoarding after a wildfire ripped through the area. He refused to evacuate and many of his possessions burned, she said, suggesting that may have worsened the situation. 

"He began scavenging metal to survive, which may have triggered or worsened his hoarding," she told The Times in an email. "We think that the trauma of all this, and possibly some unresolved past trauma, led to his acquisition of more and more 'things' to replace what was lost."

While the EPA reached an informal agreement with the property owner to clean the estate, Ferrera's son's continued presence there has made it more difficult for authorities to clear the area, according to the federal environmental agency.

"EPA is aware there is currently one son of the property owner and his girlfriend living on the property," Michael Brogan, a spokesperson for the EPA, wrote in a statement. "Their presence on the property is complicating access and clearing of the property, thereby delaying completion of the removal of the lead-contaminated soil."

"EPA will continue to work with the property owner to complete this process," he wrote, adding that an informal agreement was reached with the owner to clean up the lead-contaminated soil. Brogan also said the property owner hired an independent firm to handle screening and removal of lead in the soil in May 2022.

According to federal and local authorities, the sprawling property has faced several calls for a clean-up over the last five years, which have become increasingly urgent in light of the potential dangers introduced by some of the garbage there.

"This is an issue of public safety for all Angelenos in the area and will involve multiple levels of government and city departments," the office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.

Some of the orders the EPA has given to the property owner include clearing out the garbage and abandoned vehicles before cleaning sections of the property contaminated by lead-smelting practices. However, Brogan noted that the small amounts of lead present only a "minimal environmental risk," with those areas now considered "stable."

He said the "bigger issue" beyond trace amounts of the toxin is the blockage of a county fire road and the piles of debris that continue to make clean-up efforts more challenging. "Those issues are outside the purview of the EPA," he wrote.