Let history show that a minor skirmish...

Let history show that a minor skirmish of the “Buy American” movement was fought right here on the streets of Los Angeles. Literally.

Several years ago, pedestrians began noticing unusual wording on some of the 485-pound manhole covers beneath their feet. In addition to the words “City of Los Angeles,” some included even larger letters reading “Made in India” or “Made in Mexico.”

A spokesman for the city’s Public Works Department says, “Everyone was asking us, ‘Why aren’t they made locally?’ and we didn’t have a very good answer.”

The city often buys its covers from local vendors, and many of those vendors now import the covers they sell. At the same time, city contract language requires that all imported products announce their pedigree in large, clear letters.

And so the complaints began.

City officials have been trying to work around the problem. Proposed solutions apparently include the city’s earnest reconsideration of the type size required in announcing foreign-made products.

The problem isn’t likely to go away soon, though. According to Barry G. Berggren, manager of the city’s Wastewater Collection Systems division, the expected life span of a 485-pound hunk of iron is more than 100 years.