Panel Delays Decision on Aging Pipeline

The Los Angeles Transportation Commission has postponed a decision to replace an aging oil pipeline that passes through the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, but approved a final environmental impact report on the project, which opponents charge will cause noise and traffic jams along already busy streets.

The commission delayed action for 30 days after it heard opposition from City Councilman Hal Bernson and state Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), among others.

“I want to take a ride on several of the proposed routes so I have a better idea of what people are saying,” Commissioner Nathan L. Chroman told about 50 people who attended a commission meeting in Van Nuys Thursday evening.

Approval of the environmental report paves the way for other cities along the 92-mile route to submit comments.

Opponents say construction of the project will cause massive traffic jams and intolerable noise along the route, part of which runs underneath Balboa Boulevard.

The report concedes that the project would tie up traffic. But Los Angeles traffic engineers said the replacement pipeline should be approved to avoid continued oil spills from the present pipeline that have fouled local streets in recent years. The line, owned by Mobil Oil Corp., transports oil from Kern County oil fields to the company’s Torrance refinery.