Emissions of Coke Dust Spur Probe, Lawsuit

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Wednesday that it is investigating whether coal terminals and storage areas in the county’s ports are emitting hazardous petroleum coke residues in violation of state air and water pollution standards.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Customs Service employee, whose office on Terminal Island has allegedly been shown to contain cancer-causing substances from coke dust, has filed the first of two planned lawsuits against the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as the operators of coal facilities in the harbor area.

The prosecutor’s investigation and the lawsuit are the latest developments in a long-standing controversy surrounding the handling and control of petroleum coke at about 30 harbor area facilities that store and export the byproduct of the refining process.

“There has been a lot of talk since the onslaught of this problem, but no one has stepped up to the plate to take a swing,” said Victor E. Nilsen, 55, a Customs Service official whose family has lived in San Pedro for more than 100 years. “Things are getting worse here. Coke dust is ruining the community.”

Petroleum coke, which is used as a fuel in Asia, contains cancer-causing agents. Fine particles of coke dust also can aggravate respiratory illnesses such as asthma, emphysema and pneumonia. Medical studies have repeatedly shown a link between elevated levels of particulate matter and deaths of people with respiratory or heart disease.

Residents, elected officials and workers in Wilmington, San Pedro and Long Beach have been concerned since the early 1990s that coke dust, which can travel miles on the wind, is a health hazard and a nuisance that has soiled homes, businesses and boats.

Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said the agency’s environmental unit has begun assessing emissions from coke piles in the ports. If violations are found, prosecutors can file civil or criminal cases.

Gibbons said the effort has focused so far on the Los Angeles Export Terminal, a two-year-old facility at Pier 300 in the Port of Los Angeles. The 120-acre operation, which is partly owned by the city’s Harbor Department, has been the target of community protests and action by air quality regulators to get domes built over its petroleum coke piles.

“Testing will be done to determine the extent of the problem,” Gibbons said. “We are in the early stages of our investigation. A lot of work needs to be done.”

Port officials in Los Angeles and Long Beach declined any comment on the lawsuit and the district attorney’s investigation as premature. They said the ports have not yet been served with a copy of Nilsen’s suit.

Terminal and coal facility operators said they are in compliance with all applicable environmental laws and must improve their clean-up efforts under rules approved in June by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Among other things, the new regulations require cargo terminals and firms that handle petroleum coke to enclose conveyors, loading facilities and storage areas within three years. The rules also call for wind screens, covers for trucks, and programs to remove spilled materials from roads and property.

AQMD officials say the requirements will build on existing rules that have not been effective in substantially reducing airborne particles of coal, coke and sulfur. Regulators estimate that coal operations in the ports emit about 334 tons a year of fine particles that can be inhaled and 1,345 tons of larger particles that contaminate property.

“We are monitored by [the] AQMD probably more than any other facility in the port,” said Gerald Swan, chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Export Terminal. “Simply stated, we are running a two-year-old operation that has not been cited for anything.”

Nilsen, a seized-property specialist who has been stationed at the Customs House on Terminal Island for 10 years, sued the export terminal and some of its 37 investors in Long Beach Superior Court on Monday.

He says his office, no more than 500 feet from the terminal, has become a “hot spot” for carcinogens, according to samples of coke dust taken at the Customs House and near the terminal.

Nilsen’s lawsuit names 22 defendants, including the two ports and major oil companies, as well as operators of coal terminals and storage facilities throughout the harbor area.

Carmen Trutanich and Tim Lignoul, two San Pedro attorneys who represent Nilsen, brought the suit under Proposition 65, which voters passed in 1986. The initiative requires companies to warn the public if they are discharging pollutants that can cause cancer or affect the human reproductive system.

The lawsuit seeks a court order to stop the discharge of petroleum coke dust, compensatory damages and civil penalties of $2,500 per day for each violation of the state Health and Safety Code.

Nilsen, who is also preparing to file a federal lawsuit, alleges that he and others were never warned about the health risks and that companies are emitting carcinogens in violation of pollution standards set by regulatory agencies.

“We believe safe levels are being exceeded and it’s got to stop,” Trutanich said. “This lawsuit is a small effort that could become part of a larger effort to protect the harbor community from exposure to petroleum coke.”

For the case, Trutanich hired David Leu, an environmental consultant and former director of the state Division of Toxic Substances Control. Leu, whose office is in Orange County, tested coke dust from five locations at the Port of Los Angeles and in San Pedro.

Leu said the samples contained “remarkably high levels” of seven cancer-causing materials, such as benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, chrysene and vanadium. He likened them to the contents of cigarette smoke.

“What we are looking at is not a trivial situation. It could very well be a significant situation,” said Leu, who cautioned that his results were preliminary. “I don’t want to sound alarmist, but I see a lot of yellow flags, even red flags, going up.”