County responds to questions, concerns about Devil’s Gate project

Speaking in La Cañada before a skeptical and at times argumentative audience, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works officials on Nov. 6 completed the last leg of a brief informational tour of the final Devil’s Gate Dam sediment removal project.

Held at Descanso Gardens, the public meeting drew nearly 50 area residents with the promise that questions would be answered and comments heard in advance of a Nov. 12 vote from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors that could certify the final environmental review for the five-year project.

Senior civil engineer and project manager Ken Zimmer gave an overview of the DPW’s jurisdiction over 14 dams, 36 sediment placement sites and 162 debris basins and explained the Devil’s Gate plan as a matter of public safety.

“Because of our responsibilities for flood control and safety, we have to be ready at all of our dams and debris basins to handle major debris events when they occur,” Zimmer said, hinting at the danger that would occur if a debris flow like the one that followed the 2009 Station fire were to happen again.

While some audience members came with questions about details of the project — about truck routes, fail safes against dust inhalation and traffic impacts — many expressed frustration that prior health and environmental concerns were neglected in an apparent attempt to push plans forward.

Altadena resident Dorothy Wong shared her worries about what up to 425 daily truck hauls and the removal of 800,000 cubic yards of sediment annually would do to the Hahamongna Watershed Park’s diverse ecosystem.

“This [plan] is very insensitive to the wildlife that live there, and very insensitive to all of us who recreate here, for something that seems fearfully driven,” Wong said.

Others, like Altadena biologist and conservationist Lori Paul, had harsher words for Zimmer and colleagues. They alleged impropriety and negligence perpetrated by the DPW in projects at the Pacoima Reservoir and the essential strip-mining of the Arcadia Woodlands, warning similar consequences could come to roost closer to home.

“I do not trust this department to conduct this project with integrity,” Paul told the audience. “When I look at what happened at the Arcadia Oak Woodlands…I have no confidence Hahamongna will ever be the same.”

Some wanted to know why the county had not adopted more recommendations offered by a Pasadena-based working group of engineers, scientists and public policy experts who investigated less-invasive alternatives to DWP’s earlier proposals.

La Cañada resident Marnie Gaede said that group deemed the removal rate of 220,000 cubic yards annually over a longer time period would have less impact.

“You’re asking us to be afraid of not moving fast enough, and we’re telling you we’re not afraid of moving slower,” she told Zimmer. “What good is a public comment (period) if you’re not going to respond in a rational way?”

But Zimmer said DPW adopted most of the recommendations made by the working group, like insistence that only trucks made on or after 2007 be employed, which cut nitrous oxide output in half and particulate matter by 90%, and reduction of the project area.

“I appreciate that people here say, ‘I’d like to go slower,’ but you people aren’t taking that risk,” he responded. “The county actually holds that risk, so we would be responsible if anything happened.”

Afterward, Zimmer said extending the life span of the project would increase the project’s roughly $65 million price tag considerably.

La Cañada city and school officials have vowed to reach out to representing county Supervisor Mike Antonovich and other decision makers before Wednesday’s vote to ensure their concerns at least go on the public record.

Those who attended the Nov. 6 meeting left a little deflated but seemed appreciative of being given a platform to ask questions and be heard. Altadena resident and equestrian Sue Lafferty said that night’s meeting was her first, but would not likely be the last.

“This community doesn’t give up,” she said of San Gabriel Valley residents. “We love it here too much.”