Chatsworth Park South Completely Contaminated, Neighborhood Council Told

When a concerned stakeholder complained about the nearly four-year closure of because of a “little lead contamination” from a , Councilman Mitch Englander's district director said she needed to set the record straight.

Megan Cottier told Ken Gross that contaminants from clay pigeon targets and lead shotgun pellets is not only in the northern portion of the 80-acre city park, but throughout the entire site. She was speaking at the Wednesday evening meeting of the .

“There is no area of the park that isn’t contaminated,” Cottier said, adding she has been working every day with her colleagues to get the park reopened. “It’s a matter of getting it cleaned up.”

Gross, 91, who said he has a background in chemistry, suggested certain areas of the park such as the tennis courts and playground could be opened while contaminated areas could be fenced.

But Cottier said that cannot happen. She said when the clay pigeons were blasted years ago, their particles, which are known to carry contaminants, were scattered all around.

Englander, then chief of staff to former Councilman Greig Smith, ordered Chatsworth Park South closed on Feb. 14, 2008, but is still attempting to get the acreage reopened.

There have been six cost estimates, ranging from $1.5 million to $7.5 million, for the park cleanup, Englander said last month.

A phased reopening of Chatsworth Park South, located at the western end of Devonshire Street, might be possible, but a partial reopening could impact cleanup efforts elsewhere in the park.

In the meantime, the cash-strapped city has been applying for environmental cleanup grants from the state and federal governments

Currently, the city is drafting a remedial action work plan, which is under the purview of the Department of Recreation and Parks.

The department is waiting for that plan in order to go forward. Englander’s office reported last week that the first draft of the plan was scheduled for review on Dec. 14 by the city Recreation and Parks Commission.

Update from Englander’s spokesman Matt Myerhoff: "In fact, on Dec. 14 the Recreation and Parks Commission will consider an extension to an existing URS contract with the vendor that is preparing the information for the Removal Action Plan. It is likely that the plan will not be presented until early 2012."

It is unclear where the city will be getting the money for the cleanup.

“While that is a very important question, until we have a work plan, it is a moot point. The next step would be [Department of Toxic Substance Control] approving the work plan,” Englander’s spokesman Matt Myerhoff wrote in an email to Chatsworth Patch.

Jeanne Garcia, a spokeswoman for the , which is a regulatory agency, said the city has indicated it would submit the plan by early 2012. Garcia also said her department has asked the city for a time line based on the remedial work plan.

In other action, the Neighborhood Council heard members of the L.A. Fire Department explain the use of a $45,000 heart defibrillator.

Firefighter and paramedic Shawn Rudolph explained that the device retains data should a patient need assistance more than once. Rudolph also said the machine can be used to transmit a patient’s vital signs to the hospital.

Ninety percent of all calls to the fire station are for emergency services rather then fires, said Capt. Paul Nelson.

Nelson acknowledged the cutback in emergency fire services because of city budgetary problems, but said that during the high winds this past week extra personnel were brought in from surrounding communities.

The Neighborhood Council also approved a letter to the city’s Board of Public Works, outlining where an accumulation of debris is blocking storm drains and asking them to be cleared.

The council also voted to spend up to $1,000 for the Chatsworth Holiday Parade and fair on Sunday; $1,000 for equipment and supplies for the 2012 Relay for Life, set for the end of April; and $750 to buy supplies and food for pets in the Chatsworth animal shelter.