NEW BELMONT PLANS APPROVED BY LAUSD.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Unified School District is moving ahead with the controversial Belmont Learning Center under a new name, with officials saying Wednesday that they have finally identified environmental problems and mitigation alternatives.

Now called Vista Hermosa, after a proposed park that has been incorporated into the plan, the district has completed studies and remediation recommendations that have received preliminary approval from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

``I think this means we've turned a significant page in that the regulatory agency and the district no longer have to debate the extent of the problem, because it's documented,'' said Angelo Bellomo, director of the LAUSD's office of environmental health and safety.

The DTSC has scheduled a community meeting for 6 p.m. today at the Plasencia Elementary School auditorium at 1321 Cortez St. on the results of the environmental investigation and cleanup proposals.

Bellomo said the reports should clear the way for the LAUSD to design a system to deal with potentially explosive methane and toxic hydrogen sulfide in the soil over the next few months, and to proceed with the project.

Belmont has already cost taxpayers more than $166 million and will cost an additional $111 million to complete, according to district officials.

DTSC officials said the new data, which were collected by the LAUSD with its oversight, combined with 30 other environmental investigations since 1988, suggest that the high school can be protected by a system costing between $4 million and $14 million.

``I think we reasonably have our hands around what the site conditions are,'' said Hamid Saebfar, division chief for school property, evaluation and cleanup for the DTSC.

Bellomo said he anticipated a combination of systems to ensure that gases from a shallow oil field don't reach the surface, or get into buildings.

He said buildings would be protected with liners and gas-venting systems, while open areas would be treated with sand or gravel to diffuse the gases before they could reach the surface.

Beth Barrett, [phone]

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com