LA County tunnel project flew mostly under the radar for more than a decade before collapse
WILMINGTON, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- From the air, it just looks like a big hole, but the L.A. County Sanitation District's wastewater tunnel is a massive project that runs for miles, 400 feet underground.
Even with a $700 million price tag, Los Angeles County's Clearwater Project had flown under the public's radar for more than a decade, until a tunnel collapse Wednesday night endangered the lives of 31 workers who were hundreds of feet underground.
READ MORE: At least 31 workers were able to escape after tunnel collapse in Wilmington
"Most people in the Harbor Area communities didn't even realize that this tunnel was being bored beneath them," said L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn in a written statement. "We will be looking into exactly what caused this, and will do everything we can to prevent anything else like this from happening again."
Officials for the county's Sanitation District say Clearwater Project planning started nearly 20 years ago, with construction kicking off in 2019. During that time, Sanitation District Public Information Officer Michael Chee says the county made a concerted effort to get the word out to the public.
"We have done dozens and dozens of public outreach sessions," Chee said, adding that there were also groundbreaking ceremonies and other events to inform the surrounding communities.
Chee says Clearwater is one of the county's largest infrastructure projects. Six miles of a planned seven-mile route are already dug, with the tunnel a massive 18 feet in diameter. It will eventually take treated wastewater from the Wilmington facility to a still-to-be-built outlet facility at Royal Palms Beach, where the water will be released into the ocean.
The cause of the collapse is still under investigation, and none of the workers were injured.
"The workers were at mile six, approximately, and they were in the boring vehicle," said Los Angeles City Councilman Tim McOsker, whose district encompasses the tunnel's entrance and eventual egress. "The failure happened at mile five, so it was one mile behind the folks who were working... L.A. firefighters were prepared to go in, but they didn't have to go in because at that time, there was communication knowing that the workers were all coming forward."
Workers had to climb over 15 feet of dirt and debris and walk for miles underground before a crane eventually hoisted them all to safety.
Currently, wastewater in the area is funneled through two different tunnels that date back more than 90 years in one case.
"One was built in the 1930s, the other was built in the 1950s," McOsker said. "Those tunnels are old, antiquated, and do not have the safety features that they should have of modern conveyance of wastewater."
McOsker says the tunneling was slated to wrap up at the end of this year, with the entire project beginning operations in 2028. But Wednesday night's collapse will now knock it off schedule.
The project has been put on pause for the time being while the investigation continues.
"Safety is first," said McOsker. "Everything will be about safety, so the evaluations of what happened and how it can be mitigated and how it will never happen again has to be reviewed."
