2011 CPEO Brownfields List Archive

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:48:56 -0800 (PST)
Reply: cpeo-brownfields
Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Los Angeles Unified School District
 
SCS Engineers Goes Back to School

By Vicki Strickler, SCS Engineers
Brownfields Renewal web exclusive
November 17, 2011

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) faced a number of challenges and intense pressure to expand its schools to accommodate a rapidly growing student population. To solve the capacity crisis, LAUSD proposed building a large number of schools in the Los Angeles area.

Because the L.A. area is largely built-out, and there is a scarcity of unimproved land, some of these school sites were located on older industrial and commercial properties, which had been identified with contaminated soils. Soil cleanup for these sites was a priority of the LAUSD. In addition, many areas in Los Angeles are vulnerable to methane gas seeps—from underground petroleum sources and/or oil-field activities (e.g., old wells or pipelines). The most notorious example was the Belmont Learning Complex site, where a newly constructed school lay unused for 10 years while solutions to (and litigation over) a previously unknown methane problem was successfully resolved.

Before constructing begins at new school sites, California State law requires approval from the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) following an environmental investigation to identify potentially hazardous materials or contamination. If contamination is found during site investigations, appropriate remediation is necessary for the protection of staff and children in order to receive DTSC approval and for new construction to proceed.


...

For the entire article, see
http://www.brownfieldrenewal.com/news- well_schooled_in_waste_water_effluent_matters_-162.html

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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