Subway Study

Re “It’s Time for a Fresh Look at Red Line Subway Plan,” editorial, Aug. 13:

As a member of the Board of Special Geotechnical Consultants to the Southern California Rapid Transit District in 1983-84, I can assure you and Mayor Richard Riordan that Los Angeles-area conditions are not “inconsistent” with an underground subway route. The special board that included some of the most eminent geoscientists in the world was specifically organized by the district to address the soils and geologic conditions in the Los Angeles area related to the then-proposed Metro Rail Project.

The seismic and geologic setting of the Los Angeles area is one of the most studied and documented regions of the world. Your comments regarding lack of knowledge of potential strong ground shaking induced by hidden thrust faults before 1994 is grossly inaccurate. Further, this project is not the first underground construction in the Los Angeles area that is crisscrossed by fault zones.

In your editorial you wonder “why soil and geology experts weren’t looking more closely at these issues much sooner.” A review of the records dating back to the early 1980s would indicate that the problems related to the local soils and geology that were experienced during construction of the subway were indeed identified, studied and documented before even a shovel of soil was turned over or a construction contract awarded.

JACK YAGHOUBIAN

Sherman Oaks