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The Los Angeles City Council energy and environment committee took a step toward shutting down a natural gas-burning power plant in Sun Valley on Tuesday.
Councilmember Nury Martinez, who represents the area, says persistent methane leaks at the Valley Generating Station on Sheldon Street have contributed to the unhealthy air pollution in the Northeast Valley.
A long-lasting methane leak was only recently repaired at the plant.
She said operating a plant near low-income neighborhoods whose residents have high rates of asthma is unfair to those residents when the city and LADWP had decided to shut down three power plants operating on the ocean.
The council’s energy committee approved her motion calling on the LADWP to provide a schedule and plan for retiring the plant.
A separate motion requests the LADWP to get bids to demolish several large smokestacks on the power plant property. The red-and-white striped smokestacks are no longer used. Martinez says they contribute to the visual pollution of the area.
It would take a vote of the full City Council to retire the plant and demolish the smokestacks.
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