Parks board OKs controversial tunneling under Hollywood Hills.

DOWNTOWN L.A. - Over environmental protests and threats of a lawsuit, an L.A. city agency's board voted 3 to 1 last week to allow drilling of twin subway tunnels under Runyon Canyon.

Specifically, the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Board of Commissioners voted to sell for $150,000 to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority an easement to build the two tunnels. Each would be about 22 feet in diameter, and they would run below Runyon Canyon, the city-owned park in the Santa Monica Mountains which is between Studio City and Hollywood.

The MTA hopes to begin drilling the tunnels in late April or early May, said Steve Chesser, MTA spokesman.

The MTA plans to start the tunnels in a lot across the street from Universal Studios, eventually connecting them with the Red Line subway under construction in Hollywood, Chesser said.

"We are committed to build these tunnels in a safe and responsible manner, with minimal impact on the plants and animals of the park," he said.

The public may still use the park, a popular hiking spot with spectacular views of the city, during the drilling, Chesser said.

But Hollywood Hills residents, hikers and other park users, who decried what they called the MTA's "incompetence" and "cavalier attitude" toward residents of L.A., said they fear the MTA would damage the park, since the agency has a track record of causing billions of dollars of damages in Hollywood.

Jan G. Levine, an attorney representing local residents and hikers, said she plans to file a motion for a preliminary injunction which would halt drilling until the environmental impacts are properly assessed under California Environmental Quality Act.

'Dewater' plan criticized

Levine presented a report to the board which states the MTA's plan to "dewater" - a process of pumping water out of the ground to stabilize the soil for tunneling - could have disastrous effects on the park.

The report by MHB Technical Associates, a San Jose-based environmental consulting firm, states dewatering is likely to result in killing plants and animals in the park.

Once the plants die, the roots that anchor the soil to the bedrock will no longer be there to prevent landslides and floods, the report states.

But the MTA brought in a cadre of experts, including world-renowned tunnel expert Dan Eisenstein, professor of civil engineering at the University of Alberta, who testified that tunneling would cause little or no adverse impacts to the park.

He said the report is flawed, because it is based on inaccurate information. Eisenstein testified that the MTA should not be judged on its past performance of causing sinkholes and other damage on Hollywood Boulevard because "the MTA has changed a lot as an organization" in the past several months.

"The agency is now fully committed to employ the most advanced technology that exists in the world," he said.

Locals sound off

But dozens of residents and hikers, who described Runyon Canyon as one of L.A.'s last untouched natural ecosystems, testified against the MTA's plan.

"The MTA runs roughshod over anyone in their way," said Hollywood Hills resident Dale Dalfreyman.

Park enthusiast Elizabeth Meads said, "They say nothing will happen (to the park), but I don't believe them."

Parks Commissioners Steve Soboroff, P. Juan Santillan and Mike Roos voted in favor of granting the easement. Parks Commissioner Leroy Chase opposed the motion to sell the MTA the easement, stating that the agreed price tag of $150,000 was too low.

Commissioner Lisa Specht recused herself from voting, saying she had a potential conflict of interest.

Specht said she recused herself because of a letter she received from state Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Santa Monica. In the letter, Hayden requested that Specht recuse herself from the vote because she is currently registered as a lobbyist with the MTA.

Specht, a partner at West L.A. law firm Mannatt Phelps Phillips & Kantor, said after the meeting that she has represented MTA contractor Parsons Corp. in the past. Hayden "brought it to my attention that I was still on file as a legislative representative," Specht said. "I have not represented them for some time."