A LOOK AHEAD * In a city long identified as a gritty port town, environmental activists and a change in civic leaders are painting a . . . : Greener Picture of Long Beach

Long Beach, a city dominated for generations by industrial muscle and defense industry grit, is undergoing a make-over with a surprising twist: the sudden embracing of environmental values.

The changes are being driven by a new generation of city political leaders who sense a need to attract clean industry and improve tourism, along with growing environmental activism at the grass-roots level.

Among key recent developments are: the settlement with the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board of a nasty dispute over polluted storm water, the drafting of an unprecedented environmental component for the city’s new strategic plan, and the City Council’s refusal to reappoint high-profile harbor commissioner George Murchison, in part because of dissatisfaction with the port’s efforts to clean up.

These and other developments have immense implications for the 450,000 residents of California’s fifth-largest city, as well as the region at large. Recent changes could result in cleaner air on Long Beach’s west side, less polluted water for thousands of swimmers along the city’s beaches and bays, and new recreational and wildlife opportunities along the coast.

The city hasn’t solved all or even the worst of its environmental problems, but what outside observers see is a framework that will set the stage for their resolution.

“God, what a change in attitude,” said Don May, the president of California Earth Corps and one of those most pleasantly surprised by the turn of events.

Like other environmentalists, he got used to talking to Long Beach from the opposite side of nasty lawsuits or zoning battles. Now May finds himself close to realizing a longtime dream: seeing an operating oil field on the city’s east side turned into a wildlife sanctuary and functioning wetlands.

No Hotbed of Environmentalism

Sandwiched between the mouths of the polluted Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers and home to the nation’s busiest port, Long Beach for years was written off by environmental activists who sometimes referred to it as the place where “the sewer meets the sea.”

Despite its strategic coastal location and importance as a source of pollution and recreational opportunities, Long Beach could never muster the kind of passion environmentalists directed at preserving the Ballona Wetlands near Marina del Rey, the beaches in Malibu, or the water quality in Santa Monica Bay.

“Our attitude was Long Beach is hopeless,” said Dr. Gordon LaBedz, a family physician and activist in the Long Beach chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, one of the most militant coastal environmental groups. “People said, ‘Let’s write it off. The beach in Long Beach is a joke. No one goes there.’ ”

LaBedz, who has emerged as a leader of the current environmental activism, personifies the immense problems and opportunities at stake in Long Beach.

The physician is a lifelong surfer. Like other locals, he crosses the border into Orange County and surfs off the Seal Beach pier. He avoids the mouth of the San Gabriel River, less than a half-mile to the north along the same strip of beach, because of pollution.

Local surfers like LaBedz have a rule: They don’t surf within 48 hours of a storm, because that is when tons of debris, fecal matter, toxic chemicals and other pollutants wash down the river from as far away as the San Gabriel Valley.

Even on good days, LaBedz wears earplugs and keeps his head out of the water as much as possible to reduce the risk of infection, and scrubs down well after getting out.

Farther to the west--within walking distance of City Hall--pollution at the mouth of the Los Angeles River is even worse, pegged as a “toxic hot spot” by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The sediment there contains a wide range of toxic contaminants, including various metals and such banned substances as the carcinogens DDT and PCBs, according to the board’s studies.

Adding to the degradation of the area are the equally dangerous toxic sediments found on the floor of the Long Beach and Los Angeles harbors, and air pollution problems caused by dust blown into the city’s nearby residential areas from petroleum coke piles awaiting shipment overseas.

Long Beach officials have long acknowledged the problems caused by pollution flowing from the two rivers. Coke dust was also difficult to overlook because it sometimes left a residue on boats in marinas or, worse still, playgrounds at schools. Under pressure from air quality regulators, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have acted to cover coke piles, but critics say the dust problem persists.

Further evidence of the degraded environment can be seen at the Pacific-facing beaches. Although they recently got A’s on a water quality report card issued by the environmental group Heal the Bay, the beaches are little used by residents, who often complain about foul odors and garbage that washes ashore.

These problems often overshadow the city’s good environmental track record in other areas. Long Beach has a nationally recognized fleet of cars and trucks that burn clean fuel and a citywide recycling program. Its streets get swept at least once a week and many streets are shaded by a dense canopy of foliage, the result of a tree-planting program.

Change in Leadership and Attitudes

The problem of dealing with the broader issues of water quality and air pollution, say those inside and outside government, is that Long Beach for generations maintained a stance of fierce independence. A onetime Navy town built on the defense and oil industries, Long Beach had a reputation of being willing to do battle in the courtroom against anything perceived as encroachment by other cities and government regulatory agencies.

But that’s changing.

For more than a decade, City Councilman Ray Grabinski has been assailing the port for not doing a better job to eliminate the coke dust problem.

The City Council’s recent decision not to reappoint Murchison was meant to send a message to the port, Grabinski said. He said the port is too concerned with profits for shipping companies and not enough about the health of residents.

“They keep talking about dollars and cents. No one seems to be talking about the health costs. People in downtown Long Beach are fed up with finding this oily soot on their lawn furniture.”

City Councilwoman Jenny Oropeza and state Assemblyman Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), a former councilman elected last year on an environmental and save-the-neighborhoods platform, are among those in agreement with the changes.

Oropeza said recent elections led to the seating of council members who better reflect the views of residents who “feel strongly about environmental concerns.”

Lowenthal, who was often on the losing end of environmental votes when he was on the council, said previous public policy reflected the city’s embracing of the Navy and defense industry, and then its struggle to recover from the recession of the 1990s.

“Decisions were fashioned around economic development,” Lowenthal said. “Environmental concerns were not on the table.”

Evidence of a change came in the negotiations that forged an agreement ending a three-year fight with state water officials over storm water treatment. The state officials adopted a countywide plan for 85 cities, but Long Beach wanted no part of it and filed suit.

The city indicated it was ready to compromise. Environmental groups like Santa Monica Baykeeper and Heal the Bay were included in the negotiating sessions that led to an agreement, unanimously approved this month. The new plan includes a program to monitor polluted water emptying from storm drains into the water.

Rose Collins, the city’s clean water program director, said she considers the plan a proactive attack on storm water pollution.

New Aquarium’s Influence Credited

Mark Gold, executive director of Heal the Bay, has often clashed with Long Beach and the port on environmental issues. He is not satisfied with the plan because it does not place restrictions on real estate developers building new projects. But he applauded what he said was a decided change in the city’s approach.

Gold said he believes the compromise was influenced by changes in the city over the last year, including the opening of the Aquarium of the Pacific and a change in the city’s leadership, which included the a new city manager, a new city attorney, and several new members of the City Council.

The aquarium, with its focus on cleaning up the oceans, raised the bar for the city, Gold said.

“Here you have this incredible facility juxtaposed with the largest source of storm water pollution in Southern California--the Los Angeles River,” Gold said.

As for the change in city leaders, he said, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that now the city has completely opened up and is discussing environmental issues.”

Members of another environmental group, Friends of the Los Angeles River, are also heavily represented on the environmental task force working on a new strategic plan for the city.

Joan Greenwood, one of those working on the plan, said it will probably reflect regional environmental concerns, as well as local ones.

“If we are to solve these problems, it means local businesses will have to do some things they haven’t done before,” she said. “They might be viewed as not business-friendly, but if we do a basin-wide river cleanup, Long Beach will benefit more than any other city because this is where the river drains.”

In addition to cleaning up the rivers, local environmentalists are engaged in efforts that they hope will one day lead to the destruction of at least part of the rocky breakwater that runs parallel to the coast and protects the city’s harbors.