L.A. to Get $3.3 Million for Pollution Cleanup

Vice President Al Gore announced Tuesday that Los Angeles tops a list of cities tapped to receive federal aid for cleaning up industrial sites contaminated by pollution, a move that Mayor Richard Riordan said would speed development of areas along the Alameda Corridor.

The announcement, made in a telephone conference call Tuesday morning, clears the way for Los Angeles to receive $3.3 million in cleanup money, which Riordan said the city would match with federal block grants, meaning that nearly $7 million would be devoted to the task.

Los Angeles was one of 16 so-called showcase communities named Tuesday; its share was larger than any other city.

The announcement was welcomed by city officials, who said the money would pay to clean up blighted areas and lure new investment to depressed neighborhoods.

“I think you’ll see major economic developments,” Riordan said.

The areas that will be helped run south from downtown to the port and include the site of the long-abandoned Goodyear Tire plant, once a major Los Angeles employer and now an eyesore near the Harbor Freeway.

According to Riordan and other administration officials, that land will be cleaned up to increase its attractiveness to potential investors, who also are likely to be drawn by the opportunity to locate along the corridor, a rail line that will speed goods from the port to the downtown rail yards. The project is expected to cost nearly $2 billion and provide a major boost to the Los Angeles port.

Meanwhile, city officials are hoping to use the corridor to stimulate growth along its route. They are betting that warehouses and other businesses will want to buy property in the area so that they can be close to the rail line.

Those efforts are hampered, however, by abandoned manufacturing plants, gas stations and other businesses that left poisonous substances in the ground when they closed or departed. The federal government’s so-called “brownfields” grants, promised in 1997 and delivered Tuesday, are intended to pay for some of that cleanup.

“Thank you for living up to your promise,” Riordan told Gore during their phone call. “This program will accelerate our efforts . . . and will give residents hope and pride in their future.”

The call, which was recorded by nearly two dozen reporters, highlighted not only the money coming to Los Angeles, but also the mutual support that Riordan and the Clinton White House have extended to one another.

Gore repeatedly referred to Riordan as “Dick,” and warmly congratulated him on his recent marriage to Nancy Daly Riordan. Though Riordan was more formal, calling Gore “Mr. Vice President,” the mayor managed to lend some protection to Clinton during the question-and-answer session that followed the announcement.

Pressed by reporters to weigh in on Clinton’s latest troubles, this time over allegations that he made improper advances toward former White House volunteer Kathleen Willey, Riordan deflected at first and then offered a ringing endorsement of the president’s performance at an education event Monday where Riordan was a guest.

“He was incredible,” Riordan said, adding that while his opinion about the Willey fracas was “irrelevant,” the mayor thought it was important to be done with the issue.

“Let’s stop these questions,” Riordan said.

On another topic, Riordan said a recent poll of San Fernando Valley residents demonstrated the burden on him and other city officials to show that the Valley should remain part of the city. Two-thirds of Valley residents questioned in the poll favored splitting off and forming their own city.

“It’s up to the leadership of the city to show the Valley that it’s not in its interests to secede,” the mayor said.

In addition, Riordan said the city has an obligation to spur growth and development in the Valley. He cited several projects that are underway in that part of the city as evidence that his administration continues to make progress, and he urged the City Council to pay more attention to that as well.

“I’m going to fight as hard as I can to see that the Valley is well taken care of,” Riordan said, “and also to keep the Valley as part of Los Angeles.”