South San Pedro and South East RPV Gets The PIT!

Larger view of proposed Tunnel route from Carson to Royal Palms Beach.

More localized map of proposed route.

I have decided to edit this post because I originally wrote it before the comment period began and before I got as 'in to' the Draft Environmental Impact Report as I am currently going through the 3,394 pages listed as being the content of the "Complete" document.

It will also be almost impossible for me to change my thought about the placement of the "Exit Shaft" in the Recommended Project Alternative as mentioned in the Executive Study and throughout the documents.

I strongly believe that even though the placement of the "Exit Shaft" or "exit shaft" would be in an area of almost three times the dollar costs of the exit shaft's recommended placement at the site located on the bottom of the cliff in the Royal Palms area of San Pedro, it remains my feeling that the exit shaft be sunk at the old LAXT terminal on Terminal Island.

My history with The Clearwater Program is that I became interested in it at about the time it was first publicly revealed, back somewhere between 2006 and 2007.

I participated in at least one public hearing when the "NOP" or Notice of Preparation" was being considered, back in 2008.

I was one of many people who were interviewed by at least one senior engineer for the Program along with a Districts Public Relations representative.

I have been and expect to be called by staff members of the Program who offer corrections when I write something they feel needs correcting and I appreciate when I am provided corrections to factual errors I sometimes unwittingly make.

I have written about it on this blog before and other blogs which I occasionally write posts on.

It is my primary belief that The Clearwater Program is a needed project to modernize and provide more options for the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County.

I support placement of a new tunnel between what is commonly known as the Carson California Waste Treatment Plant, which is not really the correct name of the facility alongside the Harbor (110) Freeway.

I will use this post to add some correct glossary terms and to continue to request that anyone and everyone concerned about anything regarding The Clearwater Program, learn more, comment more, and work with all interested parties in creating a new Joint Outfall System that will be so beneficial to residents and businesses in Los Angeles County for year to come.

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (E.I.R. or EIR) was delivered by mail in Compact Disk form on and around February 8, 2012.

The comment period for that report began on February 10, 2012 and the comment period is scheduled to end on April 12, 2012.

Here are two very important names and address where you can submit any and all comments to:

Steven W. Highter
Supervising Engineer, Planning Section
Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County
1955 Workman Mill Road
Whittier, CA 90601
shighter@lacsd.org

Aaron O. Allen, Ph.D.
Chief, North Coast Branch
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District
Regulatory Branch
915 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA90017
Aaron.O.Allen@usace.army.mil

At this particular time, I would urge everyone interested to write, call and join with other in asking for and possibly demanding that the comment period for the E.I.R. be extended beyond its two-month allowance.

When you go through Chapter 18, Transportation and Traffic (Terrestrial) you will see the number of intersections dealt with in all of the Alternatives for the Program but what you can't read is that no formal route for truck and other construction traffic has been decided at this time and the Program's representatives may take into account the opinions of community members in finally deciding where the truck will go and when they will move.

*Information Note: While the EIR states a 'sort of' number of daily truck trips through the community, no matter what the document implies, I have been told by an official that it could be 'up to 40' trips per day. This should not be taken as alarming right now because the construction processes that would require multiple trips through communities will not begin until approximately mid-2019 through mid-2012, should the recommended Alternative be approved.

I think you will also find areas in the EIR that may have you scratching your head in wonder or even disbelief. The Program's representatives welcome questions and I have found they also provide informative answers, whether I believe those answers or not.

Information was also provided to me that currently, there are absolutely zero answers to questions revolving what the Program's representatives have considered regarding the Paseo Del Mar landslide area and it also was given to me that the Program's representatives haven't really begun to discuss this matter with representatives of the City of Los Angeles, according to a source within The Clearwater Program.

This is another very good reason I believe, that the comment period for the EIR/EIS be extended and that extension MAY include a period of time when we all learn what will happen to Paseo Del Mar.

Another note of interest to me is that the intersection of 25th Street in San Pedro and Western Avenue in San Pedro is not listed as a study intersection, no traffic counts or levels of service appear as having been studied for the EIR.

This is the beginning of the public comment period. Please, if you are interested, comment.

Thank you.