Bubbling Trouble Methane Gas Leaking In Playa Vista?

BUBBLING TROUBLE
What is the truth about possible methane gas leakage into the buildings of Playa Vista?
By Annette Stark
Viewers who caught last month's KNBC Channel 4 news investigation "Burning Questions," about the presence of methane gas at the Westside Playa Vista development, got an eyeful of alarming news. To illustrate the dangers of underground methane, KNBC showed old footage of the 1985 gas explosion at a Ross Dress For Less in the Fairfax District, begging the implied question: Could this happen at Playa Vista?
But while the images were correctly identified in the report as being from 1985, the city Building and Safety Code has changed since then to include measures that city engineers believe would have prevented that fire - all of which have been applied to Playa Vista.
But some environmentalists are saying the gas problem there still isn't solved.
Opposition to Phase II of the Playa Vista development remains stiff, focusing mostly on questions of increased traffic, open space, and Native American issues. But neither Bill Rosendahl - incoming councilman for the District 11 District and an opponent of the Phase II development - nor environmental giant Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have taken an official position on the gas.
"Bill's position on Playa Vista Phase I was that he didn't like where it was built," says Rosendahl spokesperson Mike Bonin. "That was environmental. His main objection to Phase II was the traffic impact and the lack of community dialogue about the project."
The May 25 KNBC special focused on the Grassroots Coalition - a group that has touted methane problems as the reason to kill Playa Vista II. But the Fairfax fire shown occurred before the city code was amended in 2002 to require elaborate gas mitigation systems. In 2002, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) required the installation of those systems at Playa Vista, consisting of a membrane shield under the buildings, vents, and a series of alarms. This type of mitigation is now common. Methane is found in high concentrations in Beverly Hills, the Wilshire Corridor, the Fairfax District, Universal Studios, and Venice, just to name a few locations.
Colin Kunabe, senior structural engineer for the LADBS, points out that, as a direct result of Playa Vista, Los Angeles now has the strictest methane mitigation laws in the country. "There is nobody disputing that [methane gas] is there," says Kunabe. "The bigger issue is: Can you build in an area that is known to have methane? Our standards say yes, as long as you have the detection and the method to get rid of it."
According to Bob Steinbach, an assistant bureau chief at LADBS, the department turned down KNBC's request for an interview. "NBC approached our department and asked us for on-camera interviews about info that we did not have and asked us to comment on reports that we had not seen. They would not let us have copies of the reports.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's irresponsible journalism," he adds.
But the special did have a bombshell: It alleged that "the membrane shield placed beneath the building is probably leaking," and that "some safety systems have failed." This came from Grassroots Coalition leaders, actress Patricia McPherson (Knight Rider) and attorney/engineer Bernard Endres, who have been fighting the development for over a decade.
"This is the largest gas seepage site that has ever been located in the United States," Endres declared on the special.
"The ground is almost 100 percent saturated with gas in certain areas," McPherson offered, also on the TV show.
McPherson and Endres further claimed that samples they took from a basement at Playa Vista's Fountain Park apartments tested positive for gas. McPherson said they found "an enormous amount of gas" seeping under the apartment building.
But the Coalition has already lost multiple lawsuits on this matter. "The NBC piece said there were two legal challenges. I know of many and [McPherson] lost all of them," Steinbach says.
Largely due to the efforts of Playa opponents, and especially McPherson, the city admits that gas is present at the Playa Vista site. But detailing alleged trouble with mitigation is harder to pin down, and doing so seemed to draw McPherson's ire. Asked to reconcile inconsistencies amidst the data on the Grassroots Coalition's website, she refused to be interviewed. Questions remain as to why the city engineer called this information "unsubstantiated." Inconsistencies on the website include:
• McPherson has publicly stated that the (Paraseal) membrane shield at Fountain Park has an 85 percent failure rate. But the only corroboration found by CityBeat appears in a letter on the Grassroots Coalition website from LBI technologies, manufacturers of a competitive product, Liquid Boot. While the letter might be completely accurate, it reads more like a sales pitch than a scientific study.
• To prove the Paraseal GM product is inadequate as a gas sealant, the Grassroots Coalition quotes a "City Consultant" who allegedly told them the product isn't an HDPE - (high density polyethylene is used to manufacture methane gas shields). However, the manufacturer reiterated this is exactly what Paraseal GM is.
• Steinbach points out that Playa Vista is hardly the highest methane concentration in the country. "When you look at methane standards, [Playa Vista's] certainly not the first and won't be the last," he says. "You can go over to La Brea and the concentration is higher there."
Arguing that no mitigation would work at Playa Vista, the Grassroots Coalition also offers information on Liquid Boot in the form of a letter written to the LADBS in 2000 by Dr. Fleet E. Rust, president of the GeoScience Analytical Institute. In it, Rust cautions against using Liquid Boot. That letter still appears on McPherson's website and includes a link to a New Times interview, in which Rust says it doesn't matter which membrane would be used at the ´´ development since none would work: "It is just a piece of land that was not meant to have a lot of buildings ... ."
One year later, however, Rust did a 180-degree-turnaround. In an op-ed piece for the L.A. Weekly about the Belmont Learning Center (another toxic methane site) Rust praises Playa Vista. "Both sites have similar methane concentrations," he writes. "Nevertheless, Playa Vista is moving forward with state-of-the-art gas-mitigation systems including aquifer degassing, passive venting, and active backup venting systems."
KNBC did not contact Tremco, manufacturers of Paraseal GM, to discuss whether their membrane was failing. The company first the heard of the broadcast when contacted by CityBeat. Tremco's response reads, in part: "For the Playa Vista application, Paraseal met all project specifications and passed independent testing required by the City of Los Angeles ... . We remain confident that Paraseal GM is effective when properly installed."
CityBeat then contacted "Burning Questions" producer Frank Snepp to ask if KNBC had collected and analyzed its own samples from Fountain Park and also if they had contacted Tremco. Snepps returned a reporter's calls, but refused to defend "Burning Questions" against criticisms from LADBS or the developers. He indicated that McPherson was "right about everything," and then handed the matter over to the NBC PR department, which released a statement from KNBC Vice President and News Director Robert L. Long, which said the station had provided documents to the city, and added:
"KNBC relied entirely on engineering data provided by Playa Vista Capital, the City of Los Angeles, and Southern California Gas Company for its report. Further, KNBC had independent engineers evaluate the data and our report's conclusions. ... There was no reason to talk to the makers of the mitigation systems involved. Their devices were modified and Playa Vista Capital was, according to the chief legislative analyst for the City of Los Angeles, legally responsible for their effectiveness."
The NRDC did take a stand against Playa Vista in 2003, but not about the gas. In a strongly worded letter to the Department of City Planning, NRDC senior attorney Joel R. Reynolds expressed "concerns regarding the impacts of the proposed project on air quality and traffic circulation." At press time, Rosendahl had not yet watched the KNBC news special. "He has major concerns, or unanswered questions about the Indian burial ground and the methane issue," Bonin says. "There will need to be some further questions answered."
Published: 06/16/2005