I strongly OPPOSE the DWP’s proposed power distributing
station at 16931 Marquez Ave, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 (the “Marquez
site”). The Marquez site is located in
the heart of Marquez Knolls, a quiet residential enclave populated by many
families with young children. The
Marquez site is bordered by single family homes to the south and the east,
a canyon of undisturbed vegetation to the west, and Marquez Charter
Elementary School to the north. A
power substation at this particular location raises a number of serious
environmental and health issues.
The risk of explosion and fire at power substations
throughout the nation is well documented.
They can be caused by being overloaded, equipment failure, or other
reasons. A potential explosion and fire
at the Marquez site can easily ignite the adjacent canyon and spread to the
surrounding residences extending to both lower and upper Marquez Knolls. Also at risk is the adjacent
elementary school with 600+ students as well as three other preschool-kindergarten-daycare facilities in the immediate vicinity. Given what is
at stake, that risk is unacceptable.
This lot is known to be geologically unstable and prone to
landslides. Potential slope failure
can lead
to structural and/or equipment damage at the substation. Such damage could lead to
power outages as well as explosions and fires.
The Marquez site is plainly inappropriate for a power substation.
Traffic conditions on this stretch of Marquez Avenue are
already severely stressed. The street is
jammed with parked vehicles, carpool traffic, and double-parked vehicles
during the elementary school’s drop-off and pick-up times. Should a substation emergency occur during
this time, evacuating the elementary school students and nearby residents would
be chaos. Also, this stretch of Marquez
cannot support the risk of street closures due to regular maintenance or
emergency activities at the substation. This
stretch of Marquez cannot support the daily entourage of heavy equipment
traffic that would be required for the substation construction.
Potential health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF)
from substations and high voltage power lines have been studied since the
1970s. The mainstream view recognizes a
consistent statistical correlation and epidemiologic evidence showing
association between EMF and childhood leukemia, but stops short of saying there
is a direct causal link. As the World
Health Organization recognized in 2002, however, the International Agency on
Research on Cancer classified extremely low frequency magnetic fields as
“possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
Because this proposed substation would be immediately next to hundreds
of elementary school kids who would be subjected to such exposure 7-10 hours a
day, any such potential health risk, no matter how slight or debatable, is
unacceptable.
Biological Impacts - The canyon to the west of the Marquez site is home
to Santa Monica Mountains wildlife.
The dislocation of these animals could potentially disrupt the balance of nature.
For all the above reasons, I oppose the DWP’s
proposed power distributing station at the Marquez site.