More Funds Sought for Debris Removal

The Los Angeles City Council will ask state and federal authorities to extend funding of earthquake debris removal until Jan. 17, 1996, exactly two years after the Northridge earthquake.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday to submit the request to the state Office of Emergency Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As it stands, free debris pickup is scheduled to end on July 17.

The service was originally to expire four months ago, but the council successfully applied for a six-month extension. Despite complaints from some residents that people from surrounding cities were hauling their rubble to Los Angeles and that neighbors were putting out non-earthquake-related trash, council members decided that the need for debris removal from the Northridge quake still exists.

Francine Oschin, an aide to Councilman Hal Bernson, said insurance tie-ups have prevented some residents and businesses from moving rubble and damaged masonry off their property.

But she warned that state and federal disaster officials may scrutinize the request to extend the cleanup program more heavily this time than it did earlier. She said the agencies may conclude that the service has outlived its usefulness.