Panel Backs Study of Eastside Prison : Jails: State board approves court-ordered environmental report for facility planned southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Groups are continuing to fight the proposal in court.

Despite the renewed opposition of Eastside political leaders and residents, a three-member state panel on Friday approved a court-ordered, supplemental environmental impact report for a controversial 1,450-bed state prison proposed southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

The unanimous vote means a state Department of Corrections panel believes that potential problems cited by opponents of the prison, such as inmate overcrowding, have been adequately addressed in the new study. Critics of the prison have challenged the proposal in a Superior Court lawsuit.

Friday’s action was the last administrative hurdle before construction can begin. But construction may be delayed because a Jan. 11 court hearing has been set on the opponents’ lawsuit and the newly certified study.

Nevertheless, state officials were overjoyed at the vote, the latest round in the five-year fight over the $139-million proposal.

“We realize the community’s opposition but we are confident that this prison will be a good neighbor,” said Judith A. McGillivray, chief of government and community relations for the corrections department.

Bitter debate has dogged the proposed prison since outgoing Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, responding to complaints that Los Angeles County contributes about 40% of the state’s inmate population but has no state prisons, proposed in 1985 a medium-security facility for an industrial lot near 12th Street and Santa Fe Avenue.

Eastside politicians immediately criticized the location, arguing that their communities--located just across the Los Angeles River--were already close to five other penal institutions and have been a “dumping ground” for unwanted public projects.

To quiet critics in the Legislature, Deukmejian supported a Senate bill authorizing construction of two prisons in the county, one in downtown and the other in rural Lancaster. It swiftly became law.

The Lancaster prison, like the downtown proposal, also is being challenged in court by area residents.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Zebrowski in June ordered a supplemental environmental report for the downtown prison after opponents argued that the EIR certification panel failed to consider overcrowding.

At Friday’s hearing, state officials increased the estimated “worst-case” capacity of the prison by 11% to more than twice the 1,450-inmate design capacity.

That was met with derision from opponents who claimed that overcrowding could reach 241% of capacity or about 2,000 inmates. They said such a facility near crowded neighborhoods was an unacceptable risk.

“Simply put, there is no way that this state can keep up with the required number of prisons that need to be built to handle the estimated increase of new inmates,” said state Sen. Art Torres, a Democrat whose district includes the project site.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Gloria Molina, like Torres a candidate for 1st Supervisorial District special election, brought the overcrowding issue to a personal level.

“If your children rode their bicycles on the street near the proposed jail, would the EIR’s conclusion that public safety will not erode provide you with the security and comfort you deserve?” she asked.

The EIR panel, made up of two college professors and a Deukmejian appointee, nevertheless approved the supplemental plan, agreeing that the amended capacity estimate was reasonable.

The panel also rejected claims that a dangerous toxic area next to the proposed site threatened the project, noting that corrective measures were being taken.