The Cunningham Report… umm… reports that an appeal to challenge the settlement that ended a long lawsuit battle between the Port of Long Beach and the American Trucking Association has been denied by Long Beach City Attorney Robert Shannon, on the grounds that the appeal needed to be files less than ten days after the November 2 vote (which it was not).
The appeal was brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental advocate firm that specializes in holding large corporations accountable in the courtroom. Their goal in this case was to bring the settlement decision to the Long Beach City Council, an elected body rather than the appointed Board of Harbor Commissioners.
Some believe that the settlement made dangerous changes to the Clean Trucks Program that has had success in denying heavily-polluting trucks access to operate within the Port. Last week, during the Harbor Commissioners’ vote to approve the ordinance that amended the program, NRDC attorney David Pettit announced he had appealed their earlier decision and vowed to appeal the ordinance approval as well.
With his first goal now denied, we’ll await word on whether the appeal for the November 16 approval is accepted.
Click here to read much more background on the lawsuit settlement and Clean Trucks Program amendments.