Longshore leaders question last-minute objection to port dredging plan by Councilmember Janice Hahn

Longshore union leaders, representing over 15,000 workers at the Ports of LA and Long Beach are raising concerns about LA City Councilmember Janice Hahn´s last-minute objections to a harbor dredging project that has been carefully planned over the past five years.

"Janice Hahn has been a longtime friend of longshore workers and a good advocate for the Port, but this decision to jeopardize the dredging plan at the last-minute has everyone scratching their heads," said George Lujan, President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 13, based in Long Beach, CA.

Hahn is apparently acting on behalf of Gamble Industries and its lobbyists who are promoting vague plans for a new boatyard at abandoned Port property that planners and government agencies have carefully chosen as the best site to place dredging deposits. The plan calls for filling two unused slips in an abandoned shipyard known as the "Southwest Marine" site, with the dredge spoils. Alternatives would be much more expensive and environmentally damaging. The most likely alternative would require thousands of trucks to haul the dredge spoils to a site in Arizona, increasing costs by at least $12 million, expanding the project´s "carbon footprint," causing expensive delays due to new permits and approvals, and jeopardizing $100 million in federal funds that could be lost if the project is delayed.

Gamble Industries currently has a short-term operating agreement with the Port to use the Southwest Marine site on a temporary basis. Reaction to Gamble´s vague plans for a new shipyard on the property have met with skepticism because the area´s other shipyards closed long ago. Todd Shipyards, the last major facility in the harbor, closed its doors 20 years ago, and there are no obvious signs of demand for similar services.

"It´s irresponsible to jeopardize this dredging project that´s critical for the future of the Port and the jobs that support this community," said Lujan. "You don´t just ignore five years of planning and blow something up because some guy has a fantasy about a shipyard – but has no plan, no details, and only vague claims about jobs."

Port officials are prepared to do a detailed study to see if there´s a market for a shipyard in the harbor, and would work with investors to find an appropriate site if the idea is deemed to be economically viable.

Lujan says that dredging the harbor channel to a depth of 53 feet will make LA´s Port more competitive by accommodating the most modern megaships that would increase efficiency and could reduce air pollution.