Last Wednesday, June 18, I attended the second public hearing related to the environmental analysis documents for the Port of Long Beach Middle Harbor project. There I learned that I need to correct something I wrote in my earlier column after the first public hearing. The average number of daily truck trips from the completed terminal at full operation will rise to about 10,000 per day, compared with about 6,500 per day currently. I had the impression that truck trips would be reduced by 1,000 per day, but I believe this is the number of future daily truck trips that would be avoided due to the increased use of on-dock rail. However, it is true that the total emissions from terminal operations would be lower in the future even though capacity would be greater.
Last Wednesday evening saw close to 100 people gathered in a very warm auditorium at Silverado Park in West Long Beach. I counted a total of 52 commenters, a handful of whom had also testified the previous week at City Hall (where it was much cooler!). Thirty-eight of the commenters were in favor of the project, including many Long Beach residents. Five were clearly opposed, while nine gave the impression that they were neutral or unconvinced of the project’s merits. Among the commenters was Seventh District Councilmember and South Coast Air Quality Management District board member Tonia Reyes Uranga, who emphasized the community’s concerns about air quality, especially in West Long Beach. She asked the port staff to keep construction impacts down and use the cleanest and “greenest” technology on the project. She also called for the development of community benefit programs for neighborhoods affected by the I-710 freeway.
Perhaps one of the most affecting comments came from a Long Beach resident and union member who is also the rail planner for one of the two existing terminals on the site. She overcame her nerves to say, “I know what my rail can do,” and observed that “if we don’t go in this direction Long Beach will be a dead-end city.” She echoed the majority of other commenters in supporting the project.