Playa Vista Developers Unveil Freshwater Marsh

Developers provided the first public tour Thursday of a half-finished freshwater marsh they said would eventually enhance wetlands as part of the huge Playa Vista housing and commercial project near Marina del Rey.

But environmentalists who have been fighting the Playa Vista project for years called the 26-acre, $25-million marsh an example of phony ecology that would soon succumb to saltwater intrusion and become a holding area for polluted runoff. The first stage of Playa Vista is being constructed on land once owned by the late Howard Hughes. If it wins further government approvals and gets fully funded, the plan would house as many as 30,000 people and office space for thousands more.

Much of the controversy and numerous environmental lawsuits over Playa Vista involve its location by wetlands close to the ocean and to Westside neighborhoods.