Hiuka Drops Its Plans for Scrap Yard in Wilmington : Business: In an unexpected move, the company announces it will relocate its facility from San Pedro to the Port of Long Beach.

In a surprise move, Hiuka America Corp. announced Thursday that it has abandoned plans to relocate its controversial scrap yard operations from San Pedro to Wilmington’s waterfront and will instead seek a new facility in the Port of Long Beach.

The announcement was a blow to Port of Los Angeles officials who estimated that Hiuka’s long-debated move to Berth 147 would generate $1.1 million a year in fees and bring about 100 new jobs.

But the disappointment of port officials was not shared by Wilmington activists, who, in recent weeks, went all-out to block Hiuka’s move to their community.

“This is a red-letter day for Wilmington,” said Gertrude Schwab, president of the Wilmington North Neighborhood Assn., one of several homeowner groups opposed to Hiuka’s plans for Wilmington.

David Creigh, Hiuka’s executive vice president, said in a statement that the company would no longer seek a permit in the Port of Los Angeles so it could focus instead on securing a lease from Long Beach for Berth 118 on Terminal Island. He said Hiuka expects to execute a lease with Long Beach in the next 30 days and begin operations at a new Terminal Island facility in about a year.

Hiuka’s scrap storage yard is in San Pedro while its ship-loading operations are at Pier F in Long Beach.

Claiming that the Pier F facility is too small to handle Hiuka’s tonnage of recyclable steel, Creigh said the company hopes to consolidate its operations on Terminal Island.

“Placing our port-related facilities in one location will make our operations more efficient and result in environmental benefits to the community,” Creigh said.

“We are very happy to hear the news that Hiuka would like to consolidate its operations in Long Beach,” said that port’s director of communications, Yvonne Avila, who noted that Hiuka opened its 5.5-acre shipping terminal early last year.

Wilmington residents had complained that their community would have been saddled with a scrap facility only because Los Angeles officials were set to declare Hiuka’s San Pedro yard a public nuisance.

Although Hiuka and Los Angeles port officials had argued that the company’s facility for Berth 147 would feature state-of-the-art environmental safeguards, a recent hearing illustrated the community’s division over the project and fears about truck traffic, dust and noise.

Hiuka’s move to Wilmington would have been a economic boon, some local residents and business leaders argued, noting that in addition to providing jobs, the company had pledged about $400,000 for local organizations such as youth groups.

But opponents insisted that the project would bring more environmental problems to a community awash with polluting industries. And they sharply criticized port officials for not requiring a full environmental impact report on Hiuka’s proposal.

“We are not for running businesses out of Wilmington . . . but we felt if it wasn’t good for another place, why should it be good for Wilmington?” said Bill Schwab, a community activist.

Amid the community’s split over the project and the demands by many residents for a more comprehensive environmental study, the Los Angeles Harbor Commission last week postponed a decision on a 30-year lease with Hiuka.

But after disclosing that they were negotiating with Long Beach, Hiuka officials Thursday acknowledged that Long Beach officials had issued an environmental OK for the move on Aug. 24--two days before Los Angeles port commissioners delayed action on their own environmental report.

Hiuka’s announcement was greeted with disappointment by Los Angeles port officials. Commission President Ronald Lushing said in a prepared statement that he thought the company and Harbor Department “had an agreement” regarding the environmental report and lease.

“We are very surprised with Hiuka’s decision to withdraw its proposal when we were so close to approving the lease and beginning construction of the project,” Lushing said.

Hiuka’s Creigh did not characterize the status of negotiations with the Port of Los Angeles. But he did note that the talks had spanned some 16 months.

“This decision was most difficult as Hiuka has invested over three-quarters of a million dollars and enormous effort in pursuit of the Berth 147 site” in Los Angeles Harbor, Creigh said, adding that the company this week renewed its pledge to establish some community fund for projects in Wilmington.

But as port officials and others waited for further details on Hiuka’s decision, foes of the company’s move to Wilmington were elated.

“I think it’s great,” said Claire Randall of the Los Angeles Harbor Boatowners Assn. “It’s great for the company. And it’s great for the community.”