Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
LAPD Breaks Ground On New Police Station Despite Fears Of Toxic Contamination
A rendering of the new Northeast Community Police Station, slated to open 2015 (via Facebook)
()
LAPD broke ground this morning on a new Northeast Community Police Station to be built adjacent to the site of the current station—despite fears the location may be contaminated with toxic chemicals. The current Northeast Station, located on San Fernando Road in Glassell Park, is housed in a building that was originally used as a Kodak film processing lab that the department took over in 1983.
"While this existing station has served its purpose, it's a horrible facility that wasn't made to be a police station. It has issues that concern the people that work there," Chief Charlie Beck told CBS Los Angeles. Among these concerns is the presence of toxins in the soil that have made many of the officers that have served at the facility mysteriously ill, although the city says that the station is safe.
Officer J.C. Duarte, who has worked at he station for 27 years, told CBS Los Angeles, "In '91 I was working with a partner who ended up dying of a very rare cancer and it started raising some flags. About four years later, I developed a tumor that my doctor was unable to explain." Duarte is not alone, as colleagues have been stricken with maladies ranging from headaches to brain cancer. In 2000, Officer Lenning Davis told CBS he was diagnosed with pemphigus vulgaris, an autoimmune disorder that, "has hospitalized me twice and put me on medications that I'll have to be on for the rest of my life."
Among the plethora of chemicals contaminating the soil are cyanide, heavy metals, and hydrocarbon compounds. Despite the presence of these chemicals in the soil, the city insists the contamination is minimal and at acceptable levels, and that a comparative study found that the Northeast Station was no more likely to make people sick than other stations. However, the studies cited by the LAPD were last done fourteen years ago.
Support for LAist comes from
Even though the city officially doesn't fear the chemical contamination on the current cite, Chief Beck acknowledged the concerns and assured the new station would be even safer. "That’s why we didn’t rebuild on the old site. We moved sites. We brought in all new dirt. We’re going do tests and we want to keep this as a safe station."
The new station is expected to be completed by late 2015.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars. -
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
Best of LAist