DWP Agrees to Study Arleta Electrical Project

Bowing to pressure from Arleta residents and political leaders, city water and power officials have agreed to conduct a detailed environmental study of a proposed electrical distributing station, shelving plans to start construction later this year.

The decision is at least a temporary victory for Arleta activists concerned with potential health risks from electromagnetic fields (EMF). For months, they have fought plans by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to build the station in the 13200 block of Branford Street.

The environmental study is expected to delay the $9-million project by as long as 18 months. Opponents hope that it will lead to the choosing of an alternate site for the station, which DWP officials say is needed to meet demand for electricity in the area. Citywide, there are about 130 distributing stations that transform high-voltage current into lower-voltage power for use by nearby homes and businesses.

The controversy began as a zoning dispute, with residents worried that the station would bring commercial development to their neighborhood of modest single-family houses.

The battle came to reflect nationwide concern about potential cancer risks from electromagnetic fields, invisible lines of force that radiate outward from all equipment and devices that carry electric current.

Several studies have found a small increase in cancer rates among children living near high-current power lines and among workers in occupations involving electricity, such as utility linemen and film projectionists. A smaller number of studies have found no connection, and scientists generally say a causal link between EMF and cancer has not been proven.

In light of the uncertainties, however, Arleta opponents were incensed at the DWP’s plan to forgo a full environmental study and proceed instead with a “negative declaration”--a decision that the project raised no significant environmental issues. Field strengths fall off rapidly with distance, and DWP officials contended that neighbors of the station would not be subject to increased EMF exposure.

The residents--who also complained that less-populated sites nearby had not been fully considered--pestered not only the DWP but various politicians. Ultimately, area representatives such as City Councilman Ernani Bernardi, State Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Tarzana), Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Panorama City) all joined the call to either shelve the project or conduct an environmental study.

Joe Bonilla, one of the protest leaders, said the decision “will delay the project at least a year,” and also “invite other, outside parties to review all the data . . . so we don’t feel as helpless any longer that we’re fighting this on our own.”

Joe Thompson, DWP executive engineer for the power system, said Wednesday that the department had reached an impasse with the community, so “we’re changing our path.”

He said a joint DWP and community committee will be formed to discuss alternatives as part of the environmental study.

With groundbreaking delayed at least to early 1993, Thompson said power officials may install some temporary, pole-top distributing stations--essentially large transformers--in the area. He said these could be installed without environmental approvals.