Mayor Tells Port to Create New Air Plan

Mayor James Hahn, in a testy letter, ordered the Port of Los Angeles to start from scratch to develop a new plan to curb emissions from the largest single air polluter in the region.

In the letter, released Thursday, the mayor rejects the port’s current strategy to rein in pollution from ships, yard equipment and big-rig trucks.

Hahn instructed port Executive Director Larry A. Keller to establish a task force that will meet immediately and report to the mayor in 30 days on the status of a new plan and how to complete it by year’s end.

The move comes after community clean-air activists denounced a plan unveiled by the port July 7. The activists said port administrators were intentionally manipulating numbers to minimize the amount of diesel fumes and emissions needed to be reduced to keep emissions at 2001 levels at the nation’s largest port.

For instance, the plan predicted that emissions from trucks would start dropping sharply this year, return to 2001 levels by next year and keep plummeting until 2025 -- a notion labeled as ludicrous by area residents.

Activists questioned whether Hahn had misled them with his 2001 pledge to force the port to keep port emissions to that year’s levels.

Rapid growth at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex is triggering complaints over growing air pollution levels from San Pedro to Riverside and San Bernardino, where diesel-burning trucks from the ports transfer cargo to trains and warehouses.

Cargo passing through the port complex is expected to quadruple by 2025, and that has prompted community calls for strict controls on emissions from ships, trucks and other equipment.

The letter, dated Aug. 6 and released Thursday afternoon, is signed by Hahn and his sister, Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents the harbor area.

James and Janice Hahn wrote that they were “extremely disappointed” in the July 7 report, saying it failed to identify new ways to reduce emissions and that port officials did not seek input from regulatory agencies, tenants, other elected officials and surrounding communities. The Hahns promised to provide Keller with a list of recommended members for the task force.

The letter’s stern tone provided an unusually public display of ongoing tensions between City Hall and the port.

At port headquarters, a spokeswoman for Keller said he was unaware of the letter until a Times reporter called seeking comment.

Keller later obtained a copy from the mayor’s office, the spokeswoman said.

A spokesman for Hahn said the letter was sent to Keller Thursday by mail.

In a written statement Thursday night, Keller said, “Upon receiving their list of recommended task force members, we will establish a task force that will deliver a progress report in 30 days and a new plan timeline, as required.”

Arly Baker, the port’s director of public affairs, said the port believes it can produce a new plan by the Hahns’ year-end deadline.

“This is an issue that everyone has to address, whether it’s the Port of Los Angeles, our customers -- it’s a big operation,” Baker said. “Whether it’s ships or trucks or trains, there are a lot of options and a lot of things to explore.”

Baker said the port welcomes help from the task force to prepare a new plan.

Todd Campbell, policy director of the Coalition for Clean Air, which had called on the mayor to reject the July 7 plan, expressed cautious optimism that the Hahns’ letter could result in a better plan to cut emissions.

“If this is a call to action, and if it results in serious action, this is very good news,” Campbell said.

Still, he added a caveat:

“I’ve been through the task force path before, and really, what’s going to make or break this effort is how committed the administration is to the spirit of the letter.”