Sewage Plant

“Sewage Plant Is Finally Helping to Heal the Bay” (Dec. 8) reads like a Department of Public Works marketing pamphlet. Pollution comes in many forms and, while the sea life of Santa Monica Bay may have cause to celebrate, I and the thousands of other South Bay residents who commute past the new Hyperion sewage plant twice a day now have to suffer not only the visual pollution of this blot on California’s beautiful coastal landscape, but also the incredible stench caused by this monstrosity of modern planning.

How many Angelenos are benefiting from the complex’s “commanding views of the ocean”? And if the nauseating smell that causes drivers to hurriedly raise their windows and shut off their air when they drive by is a “remarkably civilized scent,” then perhaps the DPW could supply your reporter with some “Hyperion deodorizers.” I would be most interested to learn why a little extra effort could not have been made to hide the plant from the road. For instance, why the chain-link fence? Surely a solid wall and some trees wouldn’t have added that much to the $1.2 billion price tag.

ALEX MANNERS, Hermosa Beach