Take a Video Trip Down Into the Great Hollywood Fault Trench

The geological debate over whether developer Millennium Partners can build two very tall mixed-use towers next to the Capitol Records Building in Hollywood (and whether a lot of other developers can build nearby) should be settled fairly soon. The dispute over the exact location of the Hollywood Fault has been going back and forth for about a year now; NIMBYs, who have opposed the Millennium Hollywood project for many reasons, first suggested it might be too close to the fault about a year ago, and the situation went full Drudge siren in January when the state geologist released a draft map that had the fault cutting right through the building site (by state law, nothing can be built close to an active fault).

Millennium Partners then had their own geological engineering consultants dig five trenches around the property; they released a report last month saying they found no active faults. The state geologist, however, complained his staff were not allowed to do their own review in the trenches or work with the consultants; he's now reviewing those findings and will submit a final fault map in about 60 days. Meanwhile, Millennium has just released this video of engineer Michael Reader down in one of the holes, explaining how one substantiates the existence of faults. It's a pretty straightforward explanation and a cool journey below the earth (albeit one hosted by a "science journalist" and accompanied by some questionable music).

· No Fault Found Under Capitol Records and Double-Tower Site [Curbed LA]