Cooley, Romer Clash Over Belmont Future

Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and Los Angeles schools Supt. Roy Romer tangled Thursday over the fate of the Belmont Learning Complex.

Cooley, in a letter to Romer, called the unfinished high school near downtown a “crime scene,” citing an ongoing criminal investigation into its construction.

The district attorney warned Romer to restrict access to the site and to ensure that no one tampers with wells that monitor hazardous gases.

Romer issued a statement accusing Cooley of “grandstanding” and calling the letter “foolish.”

“In my 40 years of public service, including 12 as governor [of Colorado], I can’t remember receiving a letter from a public official that is as strange as this one,” the statement said.

“To try to intimidate this school district from finding a solution to Belmont by declaring Belmont a ‘crime scene’ is preposterous,” Romer added. “This letter is below the standard this community deserves from a district attorney.”

The exchange came during a week in which the Los Angeles Unified School District moved forward with plans to resolve the fate of the unfinished high school. On Tuesday, the district put out a request to the private sector for proposals to either clean up the contaminated land and finish the school or buy the 35-acre site. Bidders have 90 days to respond.

Romer has said he would like to see Belmont open, as long as it can be made safe.

Cooley’s letter, sent Wednesday, grew out of an investigation he is pressing into allegations that district officials--and the high school’s developer and consulting firms--broke environmental laws at the site.

A special task force is conducting the probe, which is also examining allegations of overbilling by Belmont contractors.

Cooley underscored his concern that crews may have intentionally mixed soil to dilute contamination at the site. That is against state law.

“It appears the LAUSD and others have created the illegal storage and disposal of hazardous waste at the Belmont Learning Complex,” Cooley wrote. “Therefore the [site] is considered a crime scene and should be treated as such. Access should be restricted and care should be taken not to tamper with the monitoring wells.”

Angelo Bellomo, the district’s director of environmental health and safety, said allegations that crews intentionally mixed soil have never been substantiated.

He said soil containing hydrocarbon residue--from a former oil field at the site--had been removed and disposed of at landfills.

Romer said the school district is cooperating with Cooley’s investigation.

“I would expect there to be public outrage by responsible citizens against any official that would prevent us from finding a rational solution to the Belmont site,” he said.