Environmental & Safety Concerns

Commonly known to be geologically unstable and prone to landslides, DWP itself has repeatedly confirmed the Marquez Lot’s “fatally flawed” geology.  Even when DWP originally selected the parcel for condemnation in 1969, it knew about the land’s geological problems.  In fact, DWP selected the parcel specifically for its “remarkably low” land value, which DWP partially attributed to its location “within a known unstable area.”  In July 2011, an environmental consulting firm commissioned by DWP completed a “Comparative Site Evaluation” considering the anticipated environmental impacts of four potential alternative sites, including the Marquez Lot.  That report underscores the Marquez Lot’s geological problems by giving it an alarming Grade “F” in geology/soils for being on an “existing landslide” and “regarded as likely unstable.”  The consultant further explained that “one site could receive a D grade for geology, and another site could receive an F grade.  The rating scale implies linearity between these points, when in fact it may not be so.  That is, the site that received an F may be magnitudes worse.”  Indeed, an “F” is “indicative of factors that would result in a likely significant and unavoidable impact, i.e., that mitigation would probably not be available (or feasible) to reduce the environmental impact to less than significant,” and which historically constituted “a fatal flaw from an environmental standpoint.”  Given these admitted geological problems, insisting that a power distributing station be built here is patently reckless. 

Fires and explosions at power distributing stations occur regularly across the nation.  In fact, DWP openly admits the risks of explosion and fire in environmental documents it has prepared for other distributing stations.  Indeed, it is a question of “when,” not a question of “if.”  They can be caused by being overloaded, equipment failure or any number of other reasons.  The Marquez Lot’s location atop a canyon of dry brush and immediately next to Marquez Charter with 600+ students and nearly 100 teachers, staff and volunteers creates an especially volatile environment.  The Marquez Lot has been designated by the Los Angeles Fire Department as being within a “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.”  The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as well as the Fire and Resource Assessment Program have also placed it in the “red zone” – the highest Fire Hazard Zone risk category.  This acknowledged fire risk is exacerbated by the recent fire-fighting resource reductions.  As Councilman Rosendahl pointed out when opposing the closure of Fire Station 69 in 2011, “To get into the Palisades there [are] only two ways.  God forbid that we need the Jaws of Life and that we need to save a structure and people’s lives and can’t get a truck there fast enough.  That’s the big issue, it’s a matter of timing . . . we are already the most gridlocked district in the city . . . .”  Given the hundreds of lives at stake, the real risk of explosion and fire is unacceptable here.

The stretch of Marquez Avenue bordering the school is the main escape route for hundreds of homes in upper Marquez Knolls.  If an emergency at the distributing station were to require evacuation of the entire neighborhood, the immediate area in front of Marquez Charter would become a likely choke point.  Notably, the traffic conditions along Marquez Avenue are already severely stressed, especially during Marquez Charter’s drop-off and pick up times, when carpool and parked vehicles ensure a daily bottleneck.  The surrounding narrow residential streets can support only limited ingress/egress for emergency vehicles and responders to any fire or other emergency occurring at the proposed distribution station.  Under these circumstances, any necessary evacuation of the surrounding area – including all of Marquez Charter’s 600+ students, 100 staff members and numerous volunteers; the additional 200+ students and staff of the preschool and childcare facilities in the immediate vicinity; as well as the hundreds of nearby families (many with young children and elderly people) – would promise pandemonium. 

 Major projects like the proposed distributing station typically take at least 18-24 months to complete.  During this time, construction activities such as site grading, shoring and dirt moving will cause significant air quality impacts.  These include emissions and particulate matter from on-site construction equipment as well as fugitive dust from dump trucks and other construction vehicles traveling through the neighborhood.  Hundreds of Marquez Charter students and staff as well as families with young children and the elderly (some home-bound) will be subjected to these pollutants for many hours a day, five days a week, for at least 18-24 months.  Such prolonged exposure to air pollutants for children and the elderly, especially those with asthma and other respiratory conditions, could result in serious health problems.

The proposed project’s daily construction activities lasting at least 18-24 months will generate unavoidable and significant noise impacts that are unacceptable.  Specifically, the typical ambient noise level of a residential area like Marquez Knolls is about 55-60 dBA.  At 50 ft distance, construction equipment such as backhoes, front loaders, bulldozers, and graders typically generate noise in the range of 80-90+ dBA, which is comparable to a power lawn-mower or a motorcycle.  And jack hammers and pile drivers typically generate noise of 100+ dBA, comparable to a jet take-off or an industrial gas-operated leaf-blower.  Such excessive noise levels will seriously compromise the learning environment of the hundreds of Marquez Charter students as well as certainly disrupt the neighborhood’s peace and quiet. 

As discussed, traffic conditions near the Marquez Lot are already severely stressed.  The residential streets surrounding the Marquez Lot simply cannot support the daily entourage of heavy equipment traffic that would be required for an extended construction project.  Also, risks of closing down Marquez Avenue to accommodate future maintenance activities at the substation cannot be tolerated. 

For many local area families and other preschools/daycare facilities down the road, Marquez Charter is the designated place of reunion and emergency assistance in the event of a natural disaster.  Installing the proposed distributing station directly next door exemplifies poor planning.  Not only would the facility itself be at risk in the event of a natural disaster, the additional traffic generated during the construction period would also make access by emergency vehicles virtually impossible. 

Marquez Charter is one of two public elementary schools in Pacific Palisades.  It is a classified as a “Distinguished School” with an outstanding Academic Performance Index score of 936.  Marquez Charter could not have achieved this without the support of its committed parents.  The school’s parents raise hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to support the school's curriculum, a substantial portion of the school’s budget.  Many families move to the area in order to send their children to Marquez Charter, making it an important part of the local community.  In addition, approximately 20% of the students choose to come from other areas of Los Angeles to attend Marquez Charter.  Installing the proposed distributing station right next to Marquez Charter will ruin the school.  Those parents who have the means are already saying they will send their children to private school, and many others will do what they can to move their children to other area schools, should the substation be built.  Such a massive student exodus would drain the school of its much-needed resources and committed parents.  And we would run the risk of ruining a top-ranking charter school, which many have labored to make a pride of the community.  This would be a monumental loss for the entire community. 

Allowing DWP’s electric distributing station to be erected directly next to Marquez Charter flies in the face of City policy.  In 2005, the Los Angeles Board of Education adopted a “Siting of New Schools Near Industrial Facilities” resolution defining “high risk facilities” as those “whose normal operation presents a risk of explosion.”  That resolution prohibits new schools to be placed next to high risk facilities unless risks are mitigated to below levels of significance, and further directs the Los Angeles Unified School District to employ “whatever legal means available to oppose” the proposed issuance of permits “associated with industrial activity on property within 500 feet of a District School” and to “prevent the introduction of any new significant risk to school occupants.”  Placing the proposed distribution station next to Marquez Charter would yield the exact situation that this policy aims to prevent.  The California Department of Education also has adopted policies requiring placement of schools to be guided by “health and safety concerns,” with screening criteria in this order of importance, “1. Safety, 2. Location, 3, Environment, . . .,”  and has enacted regulations mandating specific distances between schools and power lines.  In contrast, the DWP glaringly omits any safety consideration in its site selection criteria presented at the February 29 Town Hall meeting.  When considering placing a new power distributing station next to a school, decision-makers must prioritize safety concerns just the same.

The Marquez Lot was originally zoned residential consistent with its surrounding land uses.  In 1971, DWP applied for a Conditional Use Permit (“CUP”) from the City Planning Department to allow the eventual construction of a distributing station.  That CUP was quietly approved without the benefit of today’s broad array of environmental protection laws and regulations.  In any event, DWP ended up shelving the proposed distributing station for the next nearly forty years.  When DWP recently renewed interest in the proposed distributing station, certain proponents of the Marquez Lot touted the existence of the pre-approved CUP from some 40 years ago to counter the obviously objectionable land use and poor planning.  In fact,  even DWP’s own staff now cast doubt on this – admitting that the stale CUP is “basically. . .  no longer valid” and that even the approval of a new CUP is “uncertain.”

Scientific studies since the 1970s have reported an association between EMFs and childhood leukemia.  The World Health Organization has established an International EMF Project to resolve the health issues raised by EMF exposure, and in 1998 published a Fact Sheet recognizing EMFs as a “possible human carcinogen.” A 1999 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences study recognized that between 5% -15% of childhood leukemia could be caused by EMFs, and urged the power industry to site power lines to “reduce exposures.”  A 2002 NIEHS report again recognized epidemiological studies substantiating a “fairly consistent pattern” associating childhood leukemia and EMF exposure.  In 2011, a Kaiser Permanente study found new epidemiological evidence supporting a “statistically significant” relationship between maternal exposure to EMFs during pregnancy and increased risk of asthma in offspring.  Consistent with these scientific findings, DWP’s own webpage on EMFs warns the public to “limit your exposure” and “increas[e] your distance from EMF sources.”  In the absence of any concrete proof that EMFs are unequivocally safe, DWP should not gamble with the health and safety of our public school children nor that of the community.  Our children should not be the guinea pigs in the study of the effects of EMFs.  Click here for more on potential health impacts of EMFs.