Perils at 2 Belmont Sites Are Similar, Law Firm Says

The O’Melveny & Myers law firm disclosed Tuesday that testing at Belmont High School found methane and hydrogen sulfide at levels comparable to those that derailed the $200-million project to build a replacement school a few blocks away.

The firm said the findings do not indicate any hazard to students on the existing campus west of downtown. Rather, it said, the testing shows that the aborted Belmont Learning Complex would be a safer school if buildings were sealed from the gases rising from underground crude oil. There are no mitigation measures at the current Belmont, part of which is over the same oil field.

The firm is conducting tests at the current Belmont and district headquarters as part of its defense against a malpractice suit filed by the Los Angeles Unified School District. The suit says O’Melveny gave faulty advice on the project, allowing construction to begin in 1997 without adequate environmental study.

Extensive testing last year showed that the construction site is free of significant levels of industrial pollutants but that methane and hydrogen sulfide are pervasive in possibly hazardous concentrations.

Environmental engineers have consistently said barriers, vent pipes and blowers could make the campus safe. Cost estimates vary from $10 million to $60 million.

The school board voted Jan. 25 to kill the project. In urging that decision, chief operating officer Howard Miller cited the unknown environmental costs and the lack of state bond funds to complete construction. But several board members voiced safety concerns.

Seeking to limit its potential liability, O’Melveny says no valid safety issue warrants abandonment of the new complex. Over the objection of district lawyers, a judge granted O’Melveny’s request to conduct testing at the current Belmont. Preliminary results of underground probes conducted on three weekends this month produced a pattern of high and low readings, much like that on the new Belmont site.

The highest methane concentration, slightly above the explosive level, was found 48 feet below the plaza in the center of campus. That is significantly higher than any readings around the classroom buildings of the unfinished Belmont, but still lower than readings near other buildings on the new campus.

Hydrogen sulfide was found below ground near the auditorium at the current Belmont. High readings of the toxic gas were found below the football field of the new campus.

Ralph J. Shapira, attorney for O’Melveny & Myers, said there is no evidence the gases had reached the surface in hazardous concentrations at the current school.

Miller said the district will look into any potential dangers at the current school but that the findings do not change his judgment, which he attributed to the uncertain cost of mitigation. He also sharply criticized the law firm’s disclosure.