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(See pdf here.)
Opponents of the Millennium Hollywood project this morning released secret emails that show the Los Angeles Dept. of Building and Safety and the Millennium developer acknowledged, behind closed doors, that the Hollywood Earthquake Fault potentially crossed the property and that the state of California officially had mapped the active fault on or near the Millennium property.
This is in sharp contrast to months of public denials by the developer and the city of any seismic concerns, said Robert P. Silverstein, attorney for a coalition of 40 community groups opposed to the project.
None of these facts was disclosed in the environmental impact report for the project, as legally required, Mr. Silverstein added.
The secret emails were obtained through the California Public Records Act. “This is our first good look at what was going on behind the curtain of deceit at City Hall,” said Mr. Silverstein.
“Now that we have documentary proof of a cover-up, the big question is: Who at City Hall okayed the cover-up? We intend to follow the paper trail until we get an answer, no matter how high up it leads.”
He Hasn’t Reached Bottom
Mr. Silverstein said more revelations are likely as the city responds to his other Public Records Act requests. He asserted that the new information further drives home the need for a neutral panel of experts to study the earthquake risks at the Millennium site.
The secret emails appear to show that:
1) In a March 16, 2012, email to General Manager Raymond Chan of the Dept. of Building and Safety and to the Millennium developer’s attorneys, city Case Manager Charmie Huynh, P.E., confirmed that city geologist Dana Prevost “met with the project team to discuss the Hollywood Fault Line that could potentially be crossing the property.” (Exhibit 1 attached)
2) In a March 15, 2012, email from the Millennium developer’s attorney to Mr. Chan, the attorney admitted “[t]here is a Hollywood Fault trace mapped by the California Geological Survey that prompted the discussion with Mr. Prevost.” (Exhibit 2 attached)
Despite these alarm bells, none of this critical information appeared in the project’s environmental impact report. The EIR was required to provide the public and the city’s decision-makers with an even-handed assessment of the project, including its seismic risks.
“These are smoking-gun emails,” said Mr. Silverstein. “The city and developer have been claiming that no evidence shows an earthquake fault across the property. The EIR failed to acknowledge the state of California’s 2010 active fault map showing the Hollywood Fault crossing the Millennium property,” Mr. Silverstein said. “But internally, the city and developer were fully aware of these inconvenient truths. They were hiding them.”
His Motivation
Mr. Silverstein’s Public Records Act requests were sparked by suspicions about the developer’s geologic report, which was attached to the EIR. The world expert on the Hollywood Fault, USC Prof. James Dolan, called that study “completely inadequate.”
Prof. Dolan said there was “no way that they could ever hope to determine where faults are” based on the methods used by the developer’s engineers. He described the developer’s report as “[s]o stunning that I would suspect that they weren’t looking for a fault at this location.” (Exhibit 3 attached)
The recently-discovered secret emails reveal that the developer and the city knew of the state’s 2010 active fault map showing the Hollywood Fault through the site. Yet in all public statements, the developer and city asserted the fault was 4/10ths of a mile –seven football fields – away. City Planning and the Dept. of Building and Safety approved the Langan Engineering report that promoted this evident falsehood.
“This is documented proof that the city and developer knew this information seven months before the EIR was released to the public,” Mr. Silverstein said. “They actively concealed it. Obviously city staff and the developer did not want to open this pandora’s box.”
In the March 16, 2012 email, Ms. Hyunh wrote Mr. Chan that the city’s geologist had met with the developer about the Hollywood Fault Line that “could potentially be crossing its property.” IMs. Huynh told Mr. Chan that Mr. Prevost, the city geologist, had told the developer’s team “they need to do their own investigation to locate the fault.”
In his reply to Ms. Hyunh’s explosive email, Mr. Chan wrote: “Thank you Charmie!!!”
Two months later, Mr. Prevost told officials in the city’s Planning Dept. that “[a]ccording to the Fault Activity Map of California, dated 2010, prepared by the California Geological Survey, the Hollywood Fault is considered active and appears to exist in the vicinity of the subject [Millennium] site. Therefore, a fault investigation report should be performed as required by Code Section 1803.5.11 of the Los Angeles Building Code.” (Exhibit 4 attached)
In July 2012, the developer began the secret study by drilling four test holes on the Millennium site to look for earthquake fault signs. The test drillings were conducted by Langan Engineering, Millennium’s geotechnical advisers. In turn, they are now being investigated by the state Board for Professional Engineers and Geologists in Sacramento regarding their work in this matter.
The seemingly flawed study tested for fault signs only at one of the two Millennium project properties (the site west of Vine Street was tested; the site east of Vine was not). One of the test drillings also showed evidence of the earthquake fault, a discovery that was never revealed to the public.
The new documents prove the public can’t trust Millennium to conduct an impartial analysis of the seismic risks of its own site, popularly known as the Capitol Records property. “The developer has a clear conflict of interest,” Mr. Silverstein said.
Millennium project developer Phillip Aarons, in the wake of the tidal wave of adverse publicity about his $650 million twin-towers project, agreed last week to dig an unspecified trench somewhere on the property. “Worthless,” said Mr. Silverstein. “This is nothing more than desperate damage-control by the developer.”
Mr. Silverstein said he is looking to Hollywood Councilman Mitch O’Farrell and Mayor Eric Garcetti, both supporters of the Millennium project, to show leadership by requiring the appointment of a neutral panel of respected seismic experts. “Only that can restore the public’s faith in the process,” he said.
Mr. Schwada may be contacted at John.schwada@gmail.com
