Local News Briefs

Quake Mapping for SM Fault

With Gov. Jerry Brown’s approval, California officials are reviving an ambitious plan to study dangerous earthquake faults and create zoning maps that could restrict development.

The California Geological Survey began Tuesday to zone the Santa Monica fault, which runs through highly populated areas of the Westside and is among 2,000 miles of faulting across the state that still needs to be mapped.

Large earthquakes in the Los Angeles area

Large earthquakes in the Los Angeles area Open link

California’s mapping efforts had virtually stopped in the last two decades because of budget cuts. Brown signed off on $1.49 million in new funding this fiscal year specifically for fault zoning. In addition, Brown approved $1.3 million in annual dedicated funding, which state lawmakers agreed would be paid for with increased building permit fees.

The slow pace of mapping has raised questions in recent months on whether city and state governments were doing enough to regulate the safety of new structures near known faults. Buildings directly atop a fault can be destroyed during a major earthquake.

Without the state maps, many communities across the state are left with limited information on where faults run under new development.

Paint Pollution Accusation

Residents of the Princeton and Arizona neighborhood accused a neighbor today of dumping cans of white paint into a storm drain.

The residents who asked not to be named told the observer that their street is now permanently stained white and must be repaired by the city at great expense.

One resident claimed that the culprit was herself a city employee though this could not be independently verified.