Pollution in our backyard

‘We call this cancer alley,’ ” Column One, Sept. 24

Thanks for the article. I live far away from the ports now, but I won’t feel right until everyone has the clean air that I do.

I watch television and talk on cellphones and drive a car -- all products that probably came through our local ports. It isn’t right that people should suffer so that I can have my life.

As I sail or drive by the port several times a month, I remember my roots. My father worked on Terminal Island; he was a hardworking, good man who died with asbestosis.

I want the port to remain, but I want to be proud that our port is the cleanest and greenest in the world -- a model for the way shipping and transportation can be.

David Lindquist

Laguna Beach

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I was wondering if the train tracks and freeways were there when the residents bought their homes or signed their leases?

This is akin to buying a home just south of the Burbank airport and then complaining about the noise. Living right next to a freeway, any freeway, is never desirable.

Instead of slapping another industry with crippling regulations and driving more industry away, residents and politicians should focus on growing and retaining businesses that provide higher-wage jobs.

Steve Morrell

La Crescenta