L.A. CITY OFFICIALS WANT TESTING REQUIRED NEAR LAB PLAN MAY AFFECT DEVELOPMENT IN VICINITY.Byline: RICK ORLOV and KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writers Following Ventura County's lead, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. City officials want to require developers to test soil and groundwater for contamination before building within a two-mile radius of the Santa Susana Santa Susana can refer to several places:
The proposal by Councilman Greig Smith Greig Smith is a Los Angeles City Councilman, representing the 12th District, which includes Granada Hills, Northridge and other parts of the Western San Fernando Valley. Smith is also a reserve officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. would establish the testing requirement and ensure the departments of planning and building and safety require sampling before developers get permission to build. "I just think this is the right thing to do to make sure we don't make any mistakes and allow someone to build something that could put people at risk," Smith said. The City Council's Energy and Environment Committee approved the concept Wednesday and directed city departments to begin developing the regulations. Located above West Hills and Chatsworth, the field lab was a longtime long·time adj. Having existed or persisted for a long time: a longtime friend; a longtime resident of Detroit. longtime Adjective nuclear research and rocket-engine test facility. Nuclear work ended in the late 1980s, and rocket-engine tests ended in 2005. The work left radioactive and toxic contamination in the soil and groundwater on site, and some pollution has moved off site in creeks. In 2005, a developer about to build luxury homes downhill from the lab found high levels of perchlorate perchlorate: see chlorate. , a rocket-engine fuel ingredient, in the soil. Centex Homes is now cleaning the site. Despite community concern, state regulators have said they cannot prove the contamination comes from the lab. Elizabeth Crawford with Physicians for Social Responsibility and Rocketdynewatch.org said the testing requirement in Los Angeles would help prevent any other last-minute discoveries of contamination. "This is a prudent, conservative step that Los Angeles City can take to make sure additional contamination is not found in future neighborhoods," she said. Even though the lab is outside city limits, officials said they were concerned after reports of contamination. "Unfortunately, pollution knows no boundaries," Councilman Eric Garcetti Eric Garcetti (born 1971) is the son of former Los Angeles county district attorney Gil Garcetti, and was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2001. He was reelected in 2005. said. The Ventura County Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. recently adopted similar restrictions on future development for property within its boundaries. The Los Angeles city task force is expected to report back on proposed regulations in 45 days. rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com 213-978-0390 |
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