Sensationalizing a Cleanup Effort

In regard to “Glendale Man’s Find Could Be a Paper Trail to Drug Kingpin” (Times Valley Edition Jan. 16), several aspects of the story were not reported accurately.

The documents in Little Tujunga Canyon were found by workers from the Los Angeles Conservation Corps participating in a two-week cleanup of the canyon coordinated by the California Environmental Project. I identified, prior to the work, the site where the documents were found. I was present when they were found and, as project director and sponsor, the documents were turned over to me and I contacted the authorities.

The Times reported that I found the documents myself while on a personal “mission” to clean the canyons. I may be on a personal mission, but these documents were found in conjunction with an organized environmental cleanup effort, not by some “environmentalist” searching for buried treasure.

Not mentioned in the article were other items found during the project including over 750 tires, beds, couches, 10 gallons of motor oil and transmission fluid, a dead baby donkey in a bag, etc.

The goals of the California Environmental Project include cleaning and restoring environmentally damaged areas through direct action, educating the public to take responsibility for a clean environment, and increasing public awareness of the dangers of a polluted one.

We are not looking for buried treasure, we just want to be able to ensure that the generations that follow will inherit clean water, air and land. The article sensationalized the event.

SCOTT MATHES

Executive Director, California Environmental Project, Glendale