Local News in Brief : Environment Report on Prison Rejected
A three-member state panel set up to determine the environmental consequences of building a state prison in East Los Angeles rejected an environmental impact study Wednesday for the proposed 1,450-bed penitentiary.
Rejection of the report could further delay the project, which has been entangled in political wrangling for two decades. Among other things, the panel said the Department of Corrections report did not prove that construction of the prison would not adversely affect property values.
A corrections spokesman said the department was “disappointed by the delay” but would rewrite the report.
Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), an outspoken critic of the prison, hailed the decision and said it proved that the Department of Corrections “has again glossed over” important issues “in order to build a prison at this location at all costs.”
The prison was approved in 1987 in a compromise that requires construction of a second lockup west of Lancaster.
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