DWP Board Due to Vote Today on Aeration Tower

City water officials are scheduled to decide today on whether to proceed with a San Fernando Valley ground-water cleanup project or conduct a full environmental study first.

The planned North Hollywood aeration tower will be considered by the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners at its 10:30 a.m. meeting at Department of Water and Power headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. The commissioners, who oversee the DWP, will discuss the issue and take comments from the audience before voting.

At issue is a DWP recommendation that the board approve a “negative declaration”--basically, a statement that the $2.5-million project can proceed without further study because there are no significant environmental concerns.

Some environmental concern about the project evaporated in May when the DWP agreed to put carbon filters on the tower to capture solvent vapors, which would otherwise disperse into the air. However, some critics of the project are still requesting a full environmental review, including a study of other cleanup techniques.

An aeration tower removes chemical solvents from water through evaporation. Solvent contamination has forced closure of some city water wells in the North Hollywood area, and is spreading to more wells.

DWP officials say the aeration tower, which they hope will be operating by next year on city-owned property at 11845 Vose St., is needed to intercept the contaminated ground water before it reaches more wells. They say a full environmental impact review would set the plan back at least a year.