Business & Tech

Lime Used Monday to Fight Smell at Echo Park Lake

Workers topped sections of the drying lakebed with the mixture to fight a strong odor.

Lots of folks looking at the lake lately.  Some of us stopping by to smell things, too.

The White Dog and I took a late afternoon lap Monday to check out mitigation efforts by the city's Department of Public Works earlier in the day.

COMPLAINTS ABOUT LAKE SMELL OVER THE WEEKEND

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They’d had complaints about the odor over the weekend.

No surprise that.

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I’d walked along Park Avenue late Saturday night and been a little alarmed about the stench myself.

It was strong, a lot like the guano that you find accumulating on breakwaters and other sea lion rookeries.

Late Monday the stench—at least at the north end of the lake--was demonstrably better, and there’s a good reason.

Michelle Vargas of the Los Angeles Department of Public Works said tractors were hard at work earlier Monday depositing lime in parts of the lakebed near the boathouse and former lotus field.

Lime is an inorganic compound composed of calcium and other elements, often used in construction.

See the accompanying photo, which shows a white powder on the lake bed, presumably the lime.

LIME IS PROJECT'S "IDENTIFIED MITIGATION TOOL"

Vargas said lime is “the identified mitigation tool” for strong smells like the one the wet lakebed was giving off.

She said it’s hard for the tractors to go in and do their smelly work until the bed gets relatively dry.

That’s why the  deeper southern parts of the lake are still exposed and stinky, although not as bad as the north--at least it seemed on Monday.

But, according to Vargas, hey’ll be treated with lime too, as soon as they dry out—hopefully this week with some warm weather.

To contact the Department of Public Works about an odor, call (213) 978-0317.

Link to the steps for more info about how to report bad smells at the lake.

And tell US in comments how you think the lake is smelling now--any better?


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