Officials Seek New Place to Inspect Suspicious Cargo

When an incoming cargo container sparks the interest of federal security inspectors at the Los Angeles-Long Beach seaport complex, that container more often than not is trucked to a warehouse in Carson to be searched by hand.

Federal security officials, unhappy with that route, want a proposed first-of-its-kind inspection center to be built close to where ships unload.

“We really don’t want containers traveling through residential neighborhoods if we can control it,” said Vera Adams, ports director for the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. “Our preference is that the site be located as close as possible to the point of discharge from the ships. If that could happen, we would be very pleased.”

At the Port of Los Angeles, which is leading the search for a site, port managers will not say what locations are being considered. Citing security concerns, they will not make public a new $1-million project feasibility study. Nor will they say when, or if, a list of proposed sites will be made public so that residents can review them.

Some proposed sites are located outside of the port complex, officials said, but they would not give further details.

“I am absolutely not at liberty to discuss the location,” said Julia Nagano, spokeswoman for the Port of Los Angeles. “In these issues, we will err on the side of being cautious to secure the port.”

Some policy-makers say that residents should be involved in talks about where to build the new inspection center.

“Absolutely, the community should weigh in on this,” said Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who has heard that one proposed site could be in eastern Wilmington, an area where residents have long complained of being on the front lines for port hazards, pollution and noise.

At Los Angeles City Hall, Shannon Murphy, a spokeswoman for Mayor James K. Hahn, said he will work with the City Council “to make sure the affected communities will certainly be invited to provide input and will be involved in the process.”

City harbor commissioners this morning will be asked to pay a consultant an additional $313,000 in federal funds to scrutinize existing sites and look for other locations. But only at the end of the meeting will they receive a briefing -- behind closed doors -- on the consultant’s recently completed $1-million study, said Theresa Adams-Lopez, another port spokeswoman. As of Monday, she said, commissioners had not received the report.

If commissioners want to be briefed on the study before approving more funding, they can ask that a vote be delayed, she said.

Vacant land is in short supply in the fast-growing Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, the busiest seaport in the United States. Although Councilwoman Hahn would like the inspection center located on Terminal Island, the area already is home to terminals for some of the world’s largest shipping companies, including Evergreen and Maersk.

More shippers want to locate in the seaport, and land used to build the inspection center would not produce revenue for the ports.

To reach the current inspection site in Carson, some containers deemed “high risk” cross the Vincent Thomas Bridge and travel north on the Harbor Freeway, while others take surface streets through industrial areas and residential neighborhoods, federal officials said.

Customs officials said the most suspicious containers are searched on the docks, not in Carson. If inspectors detect mysterious radioactivity, they immediately secure the area and contact hazardous materials experts.

Security officials target certain cargo based on a range of factors, such as its home port, its listed contents and the reputation of the importer.

All containers deemed “high risk” are scanned with gamma-ray equipment at the ports. If questions remain, containers are driven five to six miles to Carson.

There, containers are backed up to a mammoth warehouse and their back doors opened, a dozen or more at a time. Customs employees unpack the contents, painstakingly placing cartons on the warehouse floor in the same configuration in which they were packed inside the containers.

Dozens of pieces of teak patio furniture were stacked in a long rectangular shape on the floor one day earlier this year. Nearby, inspectors opened box after box of machetes. Others sorted through cartons of neon-colored children’s socks and shoes.

If no hazards are found, containers are repacked and sent on their way.

Most officials contacted in recent days said they think the new center should be placed as far as possible from residential areas.

Councilwoman Hahn thinks the facility should be built on Terminal Island at the heart of the two ports.

“I’m not going to be happy with a site that leaves the waterfront and takes a container, puts it on the back of a truck and moves it any distance,” said Hahn, whose council district encompasses the port area and who recently led a delegation to Washington, D.C., in hopes of obtaining more federal security funding for the port.

Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) said she wants a site as far away as possible from residential areas.

“What’s different about the Port of Los Angeles compared to many other ports is how close the residential communities are,” said Harman, ranking member on the House Permanent Committee on Intelligence. “Our port is just like our airport. It’s surrounded on three sides by residences.”

A Coast Guard official echoed that view. “We’d like as much as possible to avoid taking that container through populated neighborhoods,” said Capt. Peter Nessenger, commanding officer and captain of the port for the U.S. Coast Guard. He commended the two ports for their efforts to find an inspection site.

Some leaders in those neighborhoods want more information about potential sites for the new center.

Jesse N. Marquez, executive director of the Wilmington-based Coalition for a Safe Environment, said he plans to demand a list of proposed sites outside the port complex.

“The public has a right to know whether they would want to have another endangerment put in our community,” Marquez said. “Wilmington doesn’t want any more dangerous sites.”