Environmental group to appeal planned rail yard near Port of L.A.

A $500-million proposed rail yard near the Port of Los Angeles will face a challenge Wednesday from an environmental group that says the plans are a threat to civil rights and public health.

The Southern California International Gateway, which Los Angeles harbor commissioners approved last week, would go up near the 710 Freeway and function as a staging area for trains hauling freight from the port.

The Natural Resources Defense Council plans to appeal that decision to the Los Angeles City Council. The group cites an environmental impact report that says the 153-acre cargo complex would push more noise and dirty air into the “diesel death zone” — an area of low-income neighborhoods in west Long Beach that already struggles with port-related pollution.

“This project exudes environmental injustice,” defense council attorney David Pettit wrote in the appeal. “The siting of this project [is] adjacent to schools, senior housing, and residents who already breathe some of the foulest air in the entire region.”

The harbor commissioners violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not adopting all possible ways to lessen the pollution, the appeal says.

The appeal also asks Councilman Joe Buscaino, whose district includes the port, to recuse himself from the appeals process because he cannot be an unbiased decision maker, Pettit said.

“He has been a vocal supporter of the project,” the attorney said. “It’s clear his decision has already been made.”

Labor unions, business groups and elected officials have touted the project as a way to create jobs, increase port capacity and eliminate truck traffic on the 710. The rail yard would be capable of hauling as many as 2.8 million 20-foot shipping containers a year by 2035.

laura.nelson@latimes.com