Air-Stripping Tower Defended at Hearing

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power told about 25 people at a public hearing Tuesday night that the department’s proposed air-stripping tower in North Hollywood would not foul the air in the surrounding neighborhood.

The tower, designed to remove contaminants from ground water, “will make no difference in the quality of air in the area,” said Marjorie Shovlin. She compared the small amount of pollution that the tower would give off to adding “a grain of sand . . . in the Santa Monica beach.”

The DWP sponsored the meeting at the Fair Avenue School in North Hollywood to allow officials to present their case to residents of the area on Vose Street where the department hopes to build the $2-million tower.

DWP wells in the eastern San Fernando Valley provide about 15% of Los Angeles’ drinking water, but many are contaminated by low but increasing levels of chemical solvents. If the tower is built, about 2,000 gallons of water a minute would be pumped to the top of the 45-foot structure and blasted with a stream of air, stripping volatile contaminants from the water but adding them to the atmosphere.

Neighbors asked questions about health hazards.

“You say the risk is low, but you don’t live in the area,” said Frank Hughes. “What happens when you have to breathe this 24 hours a day?” asked Hughes, who presented DWP officials with a protest petition from 43 residents of a senior citizens’ complex.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District will decide Dec. 6 whether to call a public hearing before acting on the DWP’s permit request. The DWP also needs approval from the City Planning Commission.