Environmental fight over Port of LA’s China Shipping pollution may be nearing an end

A decades-long battle over China Shipping Terminal and pollution at the Port of Los Angeles may be over after POLA officials OK’d an extensive report this week that sets aside the 2019 environmental impact report for the terminal at Berths 97-109 and requires a new environmental document.

The decision follows a court ruling over the terminal from late last month.

“Obviously this is a situation that’s been ongoing for many, many years,” ILWU Local 13 member Sal DiCostanzo said during the public comment portion of the harbor commission’s Thursday, June 27, meting, commending the port for what appeared to be the latest outcome in the battle.

Both the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have since embarked on an ambitious “clean ports” mission that was largely kick-started by the issues that were raised during the early China Shipping days.

It was a group of San Pedro residents who fired the first shot in what was to become the decades-long battle over port pollution at the 142-acre China Shipping terminal. The issue has gone back and forth ever since.

And while it appears this could be a final step toward a final resolution, litigants remain cautious and say that still remains to be seen.

“I think we’re finally getting close,” Jackie Prange, senior litigating counsel for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a telephone interview after the vote. “The community has been waiting so long to actually have mitigation in place.”

The latest court ruling in May, she added, “left very little room for the port to continue to ignore the environment.”

Among the measures pressed for, she said, have been transitioning to zero-emissions cargo handling equipment — the port has set a deadline for that by 2030 — speed limits for ships and using shoreside power to plug in all ships.

“We’ll be watching very closely,” Prange said. “The port needs to report regularly to the court.”

With the May judgement entered, she said, “that typically signals the end of the case. But there will be continued oversight by the courts for compliance.”

“This has been a challenge for the port for quite some time,” said Commissioner Ed Renwick. “At times it seemed like an unsolvable problem, but this team came in and solved it.”

Commissioner Lee Williams said the port under Executive Director Gene Seroka is serious about the environment.

“I’ve seen the passion, I’ve seen the focus, and the desire to green our port,” Williams said. “As a community member, this has been talked about for all of the 15-17 years I’ve lived here and I know it’s gone on longer than that. This marks a really amazing accomplishment.”

The overall dispute began when a coalition of community and environmental justice groups brought litigation in 2001 to enforce state environmental law and address the pollution emanating from China Shipping.

Residents in San Pedro and Wilmington have long complained about the impacts of the port industry.

“The (latest) court decision is a huge step in the right direction,” Chuck Hart of the San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United, one of the plaintiffs, said in a written statement early this year. “Now it is the port’s turn to do the right thing and update their operations.”

Prange noted that Hart has since died and was not able to see a final resolution to the long battle he helped lead.

Hart’s fellow litigants and friends are working with the port to plant a tree in his honor on port property.