Zack Anderson is a brainiac at Beverly Hills High School, a hip science nerd who won first place at the Los Angeles Science Fair last year for his robot that detects obstacles via sonar and zips by them. To overcome another set of obstacles, Anderson also masterminded beverlyunder ground.com.
The website is a direct response, he says, to censorship of Beverly High's student newspaper, and to what he sees as efforts over the last year to quash public debate about environmental hazards posed by the flower-painted oil wells on campus and the Century City power plant next door.
"The school is kind of going along with the city, and trying to cover it up," according to Anderson. "They say, 'Everything's healthy and safe. Don't panic.' It's like propaganda."
Brainwashed in Beverly Hills sounds like a new zombie flick. But just how thoroughly hoodwinked the population has been may be revealed today. After a year of legal shenanigans and dueling "information" campaigns, state Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) is holding public hearings in Los Angeles to investigate possible contamination at the school.
The potential problems at Beverly High came to light via the sleuthing of va-va-voom paralegal Erin Brockovich and her bombastic boss, lawyer Ed Masry. They are pursuing litigation against Beverly Hills, its school district and a host of deep-pocketed oil and gas companies -- including Chevron-Texaco; Sempra, the parent company of Southern California Gas that runs the giant heating and cooling plant in Century City; and Venoco, the oil well operator at the school.
Brockovich and Masry contend that the oil wells and power plant have been illegally spewing pollutants on schoolchildren for decades. There's also the potential for methane explosions (remember Belmont High?). Now, 376 former students, faculty and residents have claimed in court that their cancers were negligently caused by exposure to chemicals and heavy metals. More than 500 others are suing for related health problems.
Viewing the allegations as pure hokum perpetrated by a couple of extortionists, Beverly Hills has held firm: No town hall meetings; no parent oversight committees; no independent investigation.
