Joanne Hedge
I wanted to draw attention to the L.A. Times Oct. 5 article "Burbank
pollution dogs Lockheed years later" and the accompanying map of the
"Plume of pollution," which includes not only my Glendale Rancho
neighborhood but the site of the proposed 125-acre multibillion-dollar
Disney Imagineering "creative campus" expansion being pushed by that
corporation and green lighted at warp speed by the Glendale City Council,
Redevelopment Agency and Chamber of Commerce.
On behalf of justifiably concerned homeowners, the Glendale Homeowners
Coordinating Council, presided over by Richard Ramirez, who is a
state-licensed soils geologist, on Sept. 5 submitted written comments and
oral presentations regarding Disney's draft environmental impact report,
covered by the News-Press. Concerns over carcinogenic contamination were
met by one council member, Ginger Bremberg, as "hysterical." Coupled with
recent findings on chromium 6 and other San Fernando Road corridor
cleanup issues, homeowners can only hope that corporate and city powers
slow up and consider what lies ahead if they inadequately address very
real health and safety worries by homeowners and their families adjacent
to these sites, including problems associated with airborne toxics
released during excavation and construction of new developments like
Disney's.
Joanne Hedge is president of the Glendale Rancho Homeowners Assn.
