Air Board Seeks More Surveys on Port Coal

After hearing angry residents testify about their health concerns Saturday, the South Coast Air Quality Management District board unanimously decided to require more studies before it can allow a massive new coal exporting facility in the Port of Los Angeles to store or ship petroleum coke fuel.

By an 8-0 vote, the AQMD board approved a motion to require a health assessment study and a study of how much it would cost to cover the coke piles at the new Los Angeles Export Terminal. Coke, a refinery byproduct, is either consigned to dumps in this country or sold overseas for steel production.

The health study will take at least two months, said Carol Coy, an AQMD staffer.

The crowd of more than 200 that had jammed Peck Park Auditorium in San Pedro for the special public hearing applauded the vote. Many wore round yellow paper stickers demanding: “Enclose the LAXT.”

At issue is whether the terminal on Pier 300 will be allowed to store and ship petroleum coke--which contains known carcinogens. The storage and shipping of coal, about 90% of the terminal’s business, is not in question.

Environmentalists, residents, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the city of Long Beach--which has its own competing facility--have raised questions for months about why a supposed state-of-the-art facility should allow open-air storage of enormous coke piles when other ports--including Long Beach’s--store coke in enclosed storage sheds.

“All three of my daughters have respiratory problems,” said Patrick Donlon of Long Beach, who spoke Saturday. “We are tired of public boards not following common sense. Petroleum coke is a noxious, cancer-causing substance. When you move millions of tons through a community, there is an obvious health risk.”

But Dick Wittkop, a manager for the Port of Los Angeles, told the board, “We believe this is the most environmentally safe [such] facility in the world.”

The facility, which began shipping coal several weeks ago, is a private/public venture among Asian investors, Western U.S. coal companies and the city of Los Angeles. The $200-million facility has a capacity of shipping 1 million tons of coke and 9 million tons of coal each year. AQMD permits will allow it to handle 2.5 million tons of coke and 15 million tons of coal annually, said terminal spokesman Robert Alaniz. Since the terminal was granted its construction permit in 1994, AQMD staffer Coy said, a technological breakthrough uses domed storage sheds combined with water treatment. Coy said that simply spraying the coke with water is more effective at controlling coke dust than regular storage sheds like those used in Long Beach, because coke dust blows about every time the doors are opened.

Residents and board members expressed appreciation for other safeguards, including water sprayers and conveyor belts enclosed in large white cylinders visible from the Vincent Thomas Bridge. But explanations that water sprayers are adequate to control the coke dust met with skepticism.

“I don’t think this community wants to have any more pollution in our air,” said Janice Hahn, daughter of the late supervisor Kenneth Hahn and a San Pedro resident. “I doesn’t help me feel any better for the experts to say the additional pollution will be minimal.”

“Why not go the extra step to cover the facility?” asked Don Shults, president of a homeowners group in the hills above the harbor.

“We want [the terminal] to open but we want it done the right way,” said Peter Peyton, spokesman for three ILWU locals, whose members work at the site. “Our research shows that petroleum coke must be covered.”

An environmental scientist specializing in toxic air pollutants told The Times that any failure of the water-spraying system would create a health hazard.

“Coke will be a problem if there is exposure,” said Steve Colome, chief scientist of Integrated Environmental Sciences, a consulting firm in Irvine. “If there is no spread to the community then there is no risk except to the workers in the yard.”

Terminal general manager Lou Rommel reminded the hearing that a recent AQMD report found that the Harbor area’s dirty air is caused mostly by cars and trucks.

“Yes, there is coal and coke dust [from three other, older sources] but it is a very small fraction,” said Rommel. “We want to be a good neighbor. We are proud of our facility.”