Poisoned Paradise Part 4
Playa Vista
Dateline: Playa Vista
The huge development of Playa Vista was built over the old Los Angeles river bed, now known as Ballona Creek. It is also built over an area of oil and gas fields. The area is so dangerous with methane and deadly chemicals from oil and gas that environmental studies pronounced that nothing should ever be built there. That didn’t stop Goldman Sachs from financing developers to build this massive site, literally a small city. According to our whistle blower, no environmental impact report was ever filed, and despite 10 years of litigation and a half million dollars in attorneys fees, the courts looked the other way and allowed the project to be built. The City of Los Angeles, ignoring its responsibilities, allowed the project to be built because it has greatly benefited (as has the County) from the millions of dollars of property tax revenue pouring in. Forget the dangers to public health, the environment, the aquifers, or anything else, the greed of the County and City for tax revenue over-shadows the lives of those who will get sick and die. The developers and financiers have reaped a fortune on Playa Vista and are continuing to build ever more condos on the site to this very day. The American Indians, whose burial grounds were torn up during this building frenzy, have allegedly said there is a curse on the site. The money made by developers, the City, the County, and the financiers, could be called “blood money” if predicted death and destruction follows. Follow this incredible story of greed and reckless development in Part 4 of Poisoned Paradise.