Proposal Seeks to Salvage Port Air Quality Accord

Attempting to salvage an agreement between the Los Angeles Export Terminal and air quality regulators, City Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr. on Tuesday proposed that the Port of Los Angeles pay for two domes to reduce airborne dust from the cargo facility’s petroleum coke piles.

In a motion submitted to the City Council, Svorinich requested that the harbor department study the possibility of financing the domes and amortizing the cost, estimated to be as high as $19 million, by increasing the rent the export terminal pays to the port. The matter will be voted on next week.

In December, the export terminal received a permit from the South Coast Air Quality Management District to store and ship petroleum coke after the facility offered to build two domes to prevent coke dust from polluting the air.

Last week, in a complete reversal of their position, terminal operators filed a formal request with the AQMD to scrap the original agreement. The request surprised the AQMD staff and angered community activists who had worked hard to get the domes included in the terminal’s air pollution control plan.