L.A. Port, Firm Fined in Dredging Case

The Port of Los Angeles and a construction firm have paid more than $1 million in fines to settle federal allegations related to the illegal dredging and dumping of polluted sediments in the ocean, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday.

EPA officials said the port and its dredging contractor, Manson Construction and Engineering Co., paid the penalties to end an enforcement action brought against them in 1996. The fine is one of the largest in the state for illegally dumping polluted sediment at sea.

The EPA alleged that over a two-month period in 1996, the port and Manson Construction dredged 23,253 cubic yards in excess of permitted limits, and illegally dumped the sediments into the ocean.

Some of the materials were not tested for toxicity as required by federal law, while other sediment was found to be contaminated and therefore unsuitable for offshore disposal at the EPA’s official dumping ground about four miles off the Los Angeles coast.

According to the EPA, the sediment was polluted with organic chemicals from oil and coal, which can be harmful to bottom-dwelling creatures, such as shrimp and worms. The toxic materials can work their way up the food chain as birds and fish feed on the benthic creatures.

Polluted sediment from port dredging operations is supposed to be taken to a dry land site on Anchorage Road, which is on Harbor Department property.

“We are very sorry the incident happened,” said Assistant City Atty. David McKenna, the port’s attorney. “Somehow the sediment that was scheduled to be dumped on the upland site was inadvertently dumped at the offshore site.”

McKenna blamed the mishap on poor communications between the port and Manson Construction--a situation that he said will be remedied by better informing contractors about the procedures for disposing of contaminated sediment.

According to the EPA, the port paid an administrative penalty of $525,000, and Manson Construction paid a fine of $499,000. Those fines were levied for 63 violations of the dredging permit and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.

The original dredging permit was issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1992. It authorized the port to perform maintenance dredging of up to 100,000 cubic yards of material per year over a five-year period.

Elizabeth White, an EPA environmental scientist assigned to the case, said harbor officials properly reported the illegal dumping to the EPA as required by its dredging permit.

“The port and the contractor have been very cooperative during the investigation,” White said. “They have taken steps to ensure that this does not happen again.”

Environmentalists contend that monitoring dredging operations is inadequate because regulatory agencies like the EPA do not have the resources and largely rely on self-policing by ports. They also said mistakes like those in the Port of Los Angeles may be due to a lack of uniform procedures for disposing of contaminated sediment.

“I am not surprised,” said Mark Gold, executive director of Heal the Bay, based in Santa Monica. “There is no regional approach to contaminated sediment management in Los Angeles County.”

Nevertheless, Gold said he was encouraged by the EPA’s response to the port’s illegal disposal activity. “This action sends a strong message to all ports in the state,” he said. “The EPA has made stopping illegal dumping of sediment a top priority for coastal protection.”