City Drafting New Law to Quiet Power Plant : Noise: Redondo Beach has failed in two prior attempts to prosecute Southern California Edison for violating city’s noise regulations.

Now that Redondo Beach’s noise ordinance has again failed to stand up in court, city officials are drafting a new law to regulate noise from Southern California Edison Co.’s local power plant.

The long-running dispute involves the huge oceanfront power plant at 1100 Harbor Drive and residents of the pricey waterfront apartments and homes nearby. For years, residents have complained about the shrieking sound made by steam valves opening up at all hours of the night and day.

In an attempt to force Edison to operate more quietly, the city twice has taken the unusual step of trying to prosecute the power company for violating its municipal noise ordinance. In the most recent case, city officials cited the company for violating the noise law on six days in September, 1990.

But that case ended in victory for the power plant, as did the one before it. Municipal Judge Deanne Smith Myers cleared Edison of any violations, saying the law is too unreliable and confusing to be enforceable.

City Atty. Gordon Phillips said he was disappointed by the Aug. 31 ruling because he thought that the city had “a very, very good case” against Edison. He said he was looking into other ways to regulate noise that would pass judicial review.

“The technical problems of this (current) law are too difficult to enforce,” Phillips said. “There may be an easier way to do it.”

The plant, located on 41 acres of oceanfront land just east of King Harbor, is the second-largest power plant in the Los Angeles basin. Built in its current form in 1946, the power plant uses steam and turbines to generate enough energy to support a city of 500,000.

Although Edison officials say they cannot prevent all noises from the power plant, city officials nevertheless contend that the company can do more to prevent pressure buildup in the steam lines. When pressure builds, the safety valves open, causing a loud shrieking designed to alert Edison workers.

Although Edison can go months without pressure building in its valves, recent incidents have underscored the need for a new ordinance, city officials said. In the last few weeks, Edison’s safety steam and gas valves shrieked five times, once at 4 a.m. Two of the incidents occurred Sept. 21, one Sept. 28, another Sept. 29 and the most recent on Oct. 5.

Edison received 17 complaints from residents about the noise.

In each instance, power plant officials called the 17 residents to explain what had happened and what was being done to fix the problem.

The opened valves “did not malfunction; they did what they’re supposed to do” by relieving pressure in various steam and gas lines, plant manager Jerry Berquist said. The release of gas and steam was quickly dissipated and posed no danger to the beachside neighborhood and marinas, he added.

Edison officials described the timing of the incidents as unfortunate and said they did not want residents to think that the company is insensitive to their concerns. They also said they are offering to help the city come up with a more reasonable noise ordinance that is fair to residents and businesses.

“Certainly I’m relieved we were acquitted--I was not surprised by that,” Berquist said. “But we didn’t ‘win,’ and the issue of noise and the city’s need for a noise ordinance . . . are still there.”

Although a previous attempt to prosecute Edison under the ordinance failed in 1989, Phillips said he nevertheless thought that he had a stronger case against the power company after the seven violations in September, 1990.

“We were very careful on the prosecution,” Phillips said. “We literally stayed in a room . . . and spent three or four hours evaluating each of these complaints to determine whether they were valid and could be prosecuted. We would not have proceeded if we didn’t think we had a very good case.”

City officials contended that noise from the power plant exceeded background noise levels on six days in September, 1990.

The law requires city officials to contrast background noise levels with those from an offending source. Because Edison cannot turn off its power plant to allow city officials to measure background noise, the law allows officials to take the measurements nearby.

Myers concluded that this method was too unreliable and unfair, noting that the city’s own noise expert, Bruce Davy, had previously stated that the approach was “technically incorrect . . . (and) would never stand up in court.”

“These and other such prior statements by Mr. Davy . . . leaves more than a reasonable doubt in this court’s mind” about the reliability of the city’s method of measuring Edison’s noise levels, Myers said.