Lake Balboa Residents Fear Asphalt Pile May Pose Health Threat
VAN NUYS (CBSLA.com) — Residents near Van Nuys Airport say noise levels may no longer be their biggest complaint.
KNX 1070's Jon Baird reports some are calling a 30-foot-tall pile of asphalt a potential health hazard to their San Fernando Valley neighborhood.
The pile - which spans about 100 feet and is wedged between a Home Depot and an office building along Balboa Place in Lake Balboa just west of the airport - is comprised mostly of recycled material that city officials used in a hot asphalt mix for road resurfacing.
But residents such as Fernando Caro, who lives in cul de sac across the street from the pile, said he's noticed a growing problem with black dust.
"It's really a pain in the butt," said Caro. "We can't leave those doors open 'cause everything just comes in."
"When we have the Santa Ana winds, we have that black soot - whatever it is - in our yards," said longtime resident Joan Kelley.
In an earlier statement, the L.A. Bureau of Street Services said that the city is currently trying to find another place to house the pile.
Kelley said if it can't be moved, she simply wants officials to make it smaller.
"I don't think it'll disappear, but we would like to take it down to an acceptable height," she said.