Court Orders Port of Los Angeles to Clean Up Pollution
After years of delay, new lease will require environmental mitigation at Port’s largest terminal
LOS ANGELES – The San Diego County Superior Court ruled in favor of Los Angeles harbor-area residents with a decision that will require the lease between the Port of Los Angeles and its largest shipping customer, China Shipping, to include enforceable measures to protect air quality and communities nearby. The case was moved from Los Angeles to San Diego in 2021, and is part of a two-decades long battle led by communities fighting for clean air.
The court ruled that California environmental law requires the Port and China Shipping to implement pollution-reduction measures, such as the phasing in of cleaner cargo handling equipment and the use of Alternative Maritime Power, which requires shoreside electric power or “plugging in” for cargo ships at berth in the terminal.
The court considered ordering the Port to shut down terminal operations, but decided against it while reserving its authority to do so. The court noted that the specter of a shutdown was the motivating factor in forcing the Port and China Shipping to finally start implementing pollution control measures.
“Years of promises by both the Port and China Shipping have resulted in no action,” said Jackie Prange, Senior Litigating Counsel at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). “Finally, this court has recognized that enforceable, common-sense requirements are needed to protect air quality and communities that surround the port.”
A coalition of community and environmental justice groups first sued the Port in 2001 to enforce the California Environmental Quality Act and address toxic air pollution from shipping and cargo-handling activities at the massive China Shipping terminal in San Pedro, which sits just a few hundred yards from homes, playgrounds, parks, and schools. Although plaintiffs prevailed in the initial litigation, the Port failed to fix its legal violations and, in fact, secretly waived pollution-control requirements for China Shipping. When news of the secret waivers became public in 2015, the Port began an updated environmental analysis for the terminal, which it finally completed in 2019.
The 2019 analysis or “environmental review” was the subject of this current lawsuit, brought by the San Pedro and Peninsula Homeowners Coalition, San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, Coalition for Clean Air, and NRDC. These community and environmental groups objected to the review, claiming that the Port violated—once again—state law by failing to disclose the terminal’s adverse impact on the environment and public health, and by failing to adopt all feasible measures to reduce that harm.
“We cannot continue to place the quantity of goods over the quality of human health and life. The communities surrounding the Port have already paid a serious price for that policy for far too many years,” said Janet Schaaf-Gunter from San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United, Inc. “We now expect the Port to embrace a firm policy to improve environmental conditions for our people and the region.”
In 2022, the trial court found that the Port was in “profound violation of CEQA.” At that time, the court stated that the Port had failed to place “compliance with California environmental law and the health of harbor workers and residents ahead of (or at least on equal footing with) its desire to appease its largest tenant.” Nonetheless, the trial court allowed the terminal to continue operating without required pollution-cutting measures while the Port again updated its environmental review under CEQA. In late 2023, the California Court of Appeal reversed that decision, stating that the trial court had the authority to require mitigation immediately. The court’s most recent decision implements that ruling.
“They say good things come to those who wait,” said Joe Lyou, President of Coalition for Clean Air. “We’ve worked and waited 23 years to get the Port and China Shipping to reduce their air pollution as required by the law. It’s long overdue but we’re thankful that it is now going to happen.”
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).