ENCINO : Workshop Scheduled on Septic Dump Plan

In response to angry demonstrations organized by neighbors and environmentalists in recent weeks, the vice president of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works has intervened and scheduled a workshop on a proposed septic waste dump in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area.

The public is invited to the meeting, which will take place from 7 to 9:30 p.m. today at the Balboa Sports Center, 17015 Burbank Blvd., Encino.

In a May 20 letter to area residents who have attended past meetings on the dump, J.P. Ellman referred to an open house at the recreation area, when more than 100 pickets protested the proposed facility and criticized public works staff and consultants as unresponsive and insincere.

“I have since received communications from individuals who feel that the public is not being included in the environmental process, particularly in the selection of sites that will be analyzed in the (environmental impact report),” the letter reads.

“I am greatly concerned about this and, as a result, I have instructed staff to hold another community workshop on the alternative sites under consideration,” the letter reads.

Criteria used by staff to pare down a list of 70 alternative sites to 21 sites “was not fully explained to the public” at the last workshop, Ellman said in an interview.

Staff was going to explain the criteria, Ellman said, but was not able to because of the demonstration.

In recent days, all media inquiries have been directed to the commissioner’s office.

“It’s not unusual that a commissioner gets that involved in a particular issue if it gets controversial or complicated,” Ellman explained.

The city is conducting an environmental study on the nearly completed $2-million facility, which is situated within an existing water treatment plant.

The dump would be used as a central collection point for septic tank waste, trucked in from the San Fernando Valley and neighboring cities.

The waste would then be piped out to the Hyperion Treatment Plant in Playa Del Rey.

Prodded by neighbors and environmentalists, the City Council voted last November to delay for one year approval of the facility, while the study is being completed.