Local News in Brief : Curb Sought on Containers

In an effort to control the number of shipping containers stored in Wilmington, Los Angeles Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores has introduced a motion that would require the Port of Los Angeles to track the movement of containers through the port for several months and to recommend ways to alleviate their impact on the community.

The motion, which will be considered by the council’s Industry and Economic Development Committee next month, describes Wilmington as the “San Pedro Bay depot for seagoing freight containers.” It says that current economic trends, including an imbalance of trade that results in more containers coming into the harbor than leaving it, have created storage yards of hundreds of empty containers.

“Many of these stored containers are not in usable condition and are piled four and five layers high, posing possible safety hazards to children and others who might use them as temporary shelters,” Flores said in the motion.

The port uses TEUs--20-foot equivalent units--to calculate container traffic. About 1.6 million TEUs passed through the port last year, port spokeswoman Julia Nagano said. Since most containers are 40 feet long, Nagano said the actual number of containers is far less than 1.6 million.

Nagano said the port had no comment on Flores’ motion.