Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 11, 2009
4. Water Quality –
Disney dumped illegally, suit says
Shipyard plan doesn't jibe with
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Disney dumped illegally, suit says
Plaintiffs accuse studio of dumping contaminants from cooling systems
By Christopher Cadelago
The Walt Disney Co. for decades has contaminated groundwater with toxic chemicals, including cancer-causing chromium 6, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The lawsuit, brought by the watchdog group Environmental World Watch Inc. and Burbank homeowner Dennis Jackson, alleges that Disney had been dumping wastewater contaminated with hexavalent chromium from its on-site cooling systems since 1998.
On Tuesday, the same Sacramento-based law firm representing Jackson and Environmental World Watch, Kershaw Cutter & Ratinoff LLP, filed another lawsuit in Superior Court expanding the number of plaintiffs against Disney for similar allegations by 16 people. The lead plaintiff listed in the lawsuit is also a
According to the June 3 lawsuit, contaminated runoff flowed down the centerline of
The dumping has since changed to flow through an underground pipeline that flows into the
Disney “supplied, dumped, released and deposited and continues to supply, dump, release and deposit vast amounts of chromium 6, air cooling water and residues, and other various toxic waste materials,” according to the lawsuit.
While representatives for Disney would not comment on specifics of the case, they denied any unlawful activity on the part of the studio.
“The allegations of wrongdoing are completely baseless,” said Disney spokesman Jonathan Friedland.
Environmental World Watch, a
During testing of the Polliwog parcel — which is within Burbank city limits, but owned by Los Angeles — as part of a challenge to the draft environmental impact report, the watchdog agency discovered “significant quantities” of chromium 6, according to the lawsuit.
Tests conducted as recently as May 16 found chromium 6 contamination at elevations of 25 feet from natural surface ground, threatening the underground drinking water supplies, according to the complaint.
Ongoing tests also show that dirt dust, particulate and micro-fine hexavalent particles have migrated off of the Polliwog property.
The toxic air contaminants have blown away, attached to human clothing, shoes, hair, horse hoofs and body hair to such an extent that anyone walking on the parcel would be exposed to the toxic chemicals and carry residue with them, the lawsuit alleges.
Reached at his
One year after voters approved the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, better known as Proposition 65, lawmakers approved the Air Toxics “Hot Spot” Information and Assessment Act, requiring facilities to report types and quantities of substances routinely released in the air.
The plaintiffs, who seek damages and penalties, claim silence on the part of Disney, an alleged violation of the act. They also claim that for 21 years, Disney has failed to provide people living in the area with clear and reasonable warnings regarding reproductive toxins and known carcinogens, and that the studio prevented state agencies from conducting environmental assessments.#
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/articles/2009/06/10/publicsafety/gnp-disney11.art.txt
Shipyard plan doesn't jibe with
By Ronald D. White
Deep inside the nation's busiest seaport lurks the old Southwest Marine shipyard, a collection of rusting corrugated-metal buildings, broken windows and dark interiors that has appeared in more than a dozen films and television shows, including "Die Hard," "24" and "CSI: Miami."
But these days, the 38-acre site at the
On one side is the defunct Southwest Marine shipyard's last caretaker:
"We are looking at doing new ship construction and repair. This would be a world-class facility, and we feel that the employment diversification we could bring to the port, in this economy, would be huge," said Gambol Industries Vice President John Bridwell, whose company has assembled a team of preservationists and other backers and $50 million in private funding.
On the other side is the
"It's irresponsible to jeopardize this dredging project that's critical for the future of the port and the jobs that support this community," said George Lujan, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 13.
For years, the site housed one of the last full-service shipyards on the West Coast. But with the end of the Cold War and military contract downsizing, its fortunes diminished and the shipyard closed in 2005.
The site hasn't been dormant. Port officials hired Gambol Industries to serve as caretaker and to help promote it as a location shoot for the entertainment industry.
During one 11-month period, from April 2007 to March 2008, port records show, the
But the company has harbored bigger plans since 2007.
President Robert Stein said the shipyard would diversify employment for the cargo- dependent seaport, give high-wage ship-building jobs to thousands of workers and grab a piece of work that now can be done only at shipyards in San Diego or the Pacific Northwest.
Gambol Industries executives also said that the new shipyard, if built, would run on clean, fuel-cell power technology and would also serve as a training ground to rebuild the shipyard worker expertise that has long since drifted away from the region.
Port officials fear that allowing Gambol Industries to rebuild the shipyard would put years of complicated negotiations in jeopardy.
Deepening the channel for larger cargo vessels will unearth 80,000 cubic yards of toxic sediment. After reviewing 13 potential sites to dump the sediment, port officials chose the Southwest Marine terminal site, which was already contaminated from its use as a shipyard. They decided that the boat slips were the best place to "entomb" the toxic material.
Port officials said changing course would also delay three important terminal improvement projects: a wharf extension for the TraPac terminal, changes that would allow larger ships to use the Yusen Terminals Inc. site and the removal of dredge material stored on the China Shipping Terminal.
"This is a huge undertaking because we try to match our dredging and land filling operations," said Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the
Gary Toebben, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, told the City Council that the dredging project "is essential to our economy right now. Nothing is more important than moving ahead with the deepening of the channel."
At Gambol Industries' request, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn had considered sending the dispute and related master-plan changes back to the Board of Harbor Commissioners for reconsideration. But last week, the board agreed to consider the feasibility of a shipyard at the site, as well as whether it could accomplish its channel deepening without filling both boat slips.
That was good enough for Hahn. But Gambol Industries executives aren't happy and are pursuing other lines of attack, including appeals of the dredging project's environmental impact report launched by the company and the Los Angeles Conservancy.
"This is a valuable asset," Bridwell said, "and we're committed to seeing this thing through."#
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-shipyard11-2009jun11,0,2882413.story?track=rss
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