SEPULVEDA DAM : Alternative Sites for Septic Facility Offered

Fifteen alternatives to a controversial septic waste-receiving facility in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area will be introduced at a city-sponsored workshop Saturday.

The 15 sites have been identified by the Los Angeles Department of Public Works as alternatives to the nearly completed facility at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant. The May 7 workshop and open house at the Tillman plant, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., are open to the public.

The city is holding the workshop as part of an environmental study that it is conducting, despite the fact that most of the construction has been completed on the Tillman site. If the project is approved, it will accept sewage from residential septic tanks throughout the San Fernando Valley before channeling the sewage to the Hyperion Treatment Plant in Playa Del Rey.

Sanitation and transportation department staff members will be on hand during the event to answer questions, public works spokeswoman Christine Harris said. People will also be able to look at a map of the alternative sites, she said.

According to Harris, an engineering consultant considered 70 city-owned maintenance yards before whittling the list down to 15 sites throughout the city, including Northridge, Pacoima, Sunland, Sun Valley, the area around Los Angeles International Airport and downtown Los Angeles. The consulting company looked for city-owned maintenance yards being used for purposes compatible with sewage disposal--such as garbage collection--and near main sewer lines, the spokeswoman said.