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City Council directs staff to recommend uniform methane-safety rules after heated public comment
Summary
The Los Angeles City Council voted to instruct multiple city departments to draft uniform methane safety requirements for future development, following public testimony focused on Playa Vista and the Belmont Learning Center.
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted to direct city departments to report back within 45 days with recommendations for uniform methane safety requirements for future development across the city.
The motion instructs the Departments of Building and Safety, Engineering and Planning, the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) and the Office of Administrative and Research Services to prepare the report and to "use the scope and methodology of research and nature of mitigation described in the final CLA report on the Playa Vista site," the agenda item says.
The vote came after more than an hour of public comment in which speakers disputed whether the Playa Vista mitigation approach is appropriate citywide and whether existing standards protect nearby schools and neighborhoods. "Some people probably will get hurt," said Greg Soetier, who identified himself as a teacher with Los Angeles Unified at Virgil Middle School. "...there are very real dangers that cannot be mitigated properly with the current technology."
Other public commenters cited technical and health concerns about hydrogen sulfide and methane at Playa Vista and Belmont. George Bozzetti, who said he had spent considerable time on Belmont issues, told the council that mitigation at Belmont had been estimated to cost "over a hundred million dollars," and warned of possible problems if mitigation relied on what he called unproven methods. Jeanette Vosberg and another commenter, Quincy, questioned the CLA report’s methodology and urged stricter oversight.
Councilmembers urged the departments to answer outstanding technical and accountability questions raised in public testimony. "This is an urban environment and methane gas is a reality of that environment, and we have to mitigate it," Councilmember Hernandez said during the debate, urging action that preserves neighborhood services such as schools.
Councilmember Holden asked that unanswered questions from community speakers be compiled and delivered to him; Councilmember Bernsen said he supported the motion and characterized the item as broader than any single site, including other city projects such as the Sunshine Canyon reopening.
The motion carried on the council floor with an 11-0 tally recorded when the item was taken up. The action directs the specified departments to return within 45 days with recommendations that could establish citywide, uniform safety requirements for methane mitigation on future development projects.
The council did not adopt new technical standards immediately; the vote authorized staff work and a report back. Several speakers and councilmembers said they intend to follow up with specific questions and requests for documentation from the CLA and the departments as those recommendations are developed.
