Completing Belmont School Complex

* Re “Riordan Seeking State Legislation to Complete Belmont,” Dec. 4: Mayor Richard Riordan of Los Angeles wants to introduce a bill that supports the completion of the Belmont Learning Complex. In addition, this legislation would protect the school district against any future lawsuits that may occur within the school. The state would have the responsibility of mitigating any liability if something were to happen.

Transferring the Belmont fiasco from Peter to Paul is not the panacea. Let’s be realistic instead of passing the buck.

ARTHUR ONNA

Los Angeles

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Like Playa Vista, Belmont is a time bomb. How many people will be maimed or killed by the explosive methane at the site? Riordan is concerned about lawsuits when he should be worried about protecting the lives of his constituents.

DEBRA-LYNNE TERRILL

Playa del Rey

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Re “School Officials Say New Belmont Plan Is Being Prepared,” Nov. 30: As the LAUSD muddles over the completion and safety of the Belmont Learning Complex, the public gets mixed messages from both sides. These are confused by the reality of how the students will be impacted by what lies beneath the soil. The area and contamination of the new site and the site of the existing Belmont High School are much the same. They are both over the same old oil field, as is much of the central city.

To exclude either of the two sites would be a complete mistake. The methane and other contaminants can be readily mitigated, and it would bring either and both sites to the same safety of the dwellings where the students reside. The suggestion to abandon the Belmont Learning Complex suggests that we should abandon all of Central Los Angeles for the same reasons. The area needs a new and larger high school. To prolong the building and continue to expose the students to the hazards of busing would be a sorry injustice.

SIDNEY C. SINGER

Los Angeles