Air Board to Examine Safety of Coal Terminal
The South Coast Air Quality Management District Board will hold a public hearing Saturday on the environmental safety of a new coal and coke facility at the Port of Los Angeles.
At issue is whether Los Angeles Export Terminal, a massive new coal exporting facility, should be allowed to leave enormous coke piles in the open air when other ports, including the neighboring Port of Long Beach, store coke in large sheds.
Petroleum coke contains known carcinogens.
The terminal “is technologically advanced in terms of not requiring a lot of labor, but it is not advanced in how it stores cargo,” said International Longshore and Warehouse Union spokesman Peter Peyton.
Union officials and environmentalists hope the public hearing will convince the air quality board to call for a formal review of the terminal’s licensing process.
The hearing will be held at 11 a.m. in the Peck Park Auditorium, 560 North Western Ave., San Pedro.
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