AEG Faces Stadium Critics

AEG’s Los Angeles football stadium plans are not going without criticism, and could face lawsuits from environmental groups.

Several environmental groups say AEG is glossing over the negative environmental impacts of the potential 80,000-seat downtown L.A. stadium complex. And they said so during a Los Angeles City Council committee meeting.

AEG released a 10,000-page draft report on the stadium in March, but environmental and legal leaders say it leaves out crucial information, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. And their complaints could lead to lawsuits.

“We will file a CEQA lawsuit if they don’t complete an assessment of all the negative impacts,” said Jesse Marquez, executive director of the Coalition for a Safe Environment.” An attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council said the EIR does not offer much in the way of how AEG will make the stadium “carbon neutral.”

AEG recently lobbied for special legislation that would require California Environmental Quality Act lawsuits against the stadium to be resolved within 175 days, saying that never-ending litigation could scuttle the stadium plans altogether.

In return, AEG promised a carbon-neutral stadium, meaning the developer would reduce air pollution produced by the facility.

Reps for the developer were also at the city council meeting, saying meetings with opponents were scheduled for the following week. Several business and labor groups were at the meeting in support of the project, the Daily News reported.