Bradley Will Oppose Plan for Oil Pipeline

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley has decided to oppose as environmentally too risky a planned $225-million crude oil pipeline that would run beneath 13 cities, including parts of Glendale, Burbank and several miles of Los Angeles, The Times has learned.

Bradley, who has remained noncommittal over the controversial Angeles Pipeline, will announce his opposition at a City Hall news conference scheduled for this morning after deciding sometime last week to speak out against the project, sources said.

The pipeline, which is planned to carry as much as 330,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Kern County to the Los Angeles Basin, would be built below residential streets and under some of the most congested boulevards in the city as part of its proposed 135-mile route.

Sided With Opponents

City Hall sources told The Times Thursday that Bradley has sided with opponents who fear that the project would result in massive traffic problems, increased air pollution and other potential dangers, including possible oil spills, fires and earthquake hazards. The mayor joins officials in several of the other communities along the pipeline route in expressing his opposition, representing a severe setback for the project.

“The mayor will come out against the Angeles Pipeline for a variety of environmental reasons, among them air pollution and other quality-of-life issues,” said one source.

The mayor’s press secretary, Ali Webb, refused to comment on whether Bradley would oppose the project. “I can’t confirm or deny that,” she said.

The pipeline would be built by a consortium of four major oil companies--Shell Oil Co., Chevron Pipe Line Co., Texaco Refining and Marketing Inc. and the Four Corners Pipe Line Co., an ARCO subsidiary.

The group, operating under the name Southern California Pipeline System, has already spent more than $5 million on planning the project, insisting that the pipeline is the safest and most economical way to transport crude oil from Kern County south of Bakersfield to Los Angeles-area refineries. Most of the crude oil would be converted to gasoline for local motorists, proponents said.

Environmental Risks

A draft environmental impact report, prepared by a consulting firm for the oil companies, had raised concerns about environmental risks although it concluded that they could be minimized.

But a growing number of opponents, including some city officials and angry homeowners along the proposed route, have bitterly criticized the pipeline. Several members of the Los Angeles City Council, which must decide whether to grant construction permits and franchises to the oil companies, have also joined in opposition. In Los Angeles, different proposed routes cross Eastside, Westside and South-Central neighborhoods.

Webb said the mayor has invited several council members to join him at his news conference, although she would not identify them.