Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will attempt to ensure better organizational operations and transparency at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant and the agency that manages the facility after years of odor-related issues plaguing adjacent El Segundo, according to a recent statement from her office.
Bass’ letter, which her office sent to El Segundo officials last week, also acknowledged “unacceptable” issues at the region’s largest and oldest wastewater treatment facility.
The mayor’s statement came in response to El Segundo city leaders demanding Bass enact leadership changes at Los Angeles Sanitation & Environment, the agency that oversees the Hyperion plant.
El Segundo’s Feb. 23 letter to Bass specifically asked her to remove or replace LASAN Director and General Manager Barbara Romero, citing concerns about the agency’s transparency and failure to resolve ongoing impacts from a massive 2021 sewage spill that residents and officials say have continued to plague them since.
LASAN communication officials, who have been handling requests for comment on Romero’s behalf, said earlier this week that they would provide a response to Bass’ letter. But as of Wednesday evening, they had not.
Hydrogen sulfide odors stemming from a July 2021 sewage spill at Hyperion have apparently continued stifling the surrounding community, with El Segundo residents complaining about headaches, nausea and other maladies.
Romero was hired the same month the spill happened.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District, the region’s air quality watchdog, has issued Hyperion 70 notices of violation related to those odors over the past 2.5 years.
Hyperion officials, for their part, have repeatedly said they are committed to rectifying the plant’s various issues — and have, in fact, undertaken multiple repairs in recent months.
But that hasn’t stopped the outcry from El Segundo.
Bass, meanwhile, didn’t directly address El Segundo’s request for new…
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