Los Angeles port to release new environmental development document

Los Angeles port to release new environmental development document The Los Angeles Harbor Commission on Friday will officially release the draft environmental impact report on the proposed expansion of the Trans Pacific Container Service terminal at the Port of Los Angeles.
   The release will be the first of an environmental impact study on a major terminal project by Los Angeles or the neighboring Long Beach port in several years. The document is a required step in the construction of any new project within the ports.
   The two ports' environmental review processes came under fire in 2003 when a lawsuit by the National Resource Defense Council and other environmentalists shut down work on a new and nearly complete Port of Los Angeles terminal being built for ocean carrier China Shipping. A court-approved settlement in the case led to a vast reworking of the project's original EIR by port staff, and led to the withdrawal of other port projects that were in different stages of development. Both ports have substantially lengthened their environmental review processes as a result, and the settlement was one of the major factors leading to the ports' new 'green' push.
   The Trans Pacific EIR/EIS — a joint document to satisfy state and federal requirements — is being watched closely by others in the port industry. The new document, if it passes muster, would likely be used as a template for future environmental reviews.
   The project calls for expanding the 173-acre Trans Pacific terminal by 43 percent to 251 acres. The facility serves ocean carriers Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, China Shipping, Norasia, Compa'ia Sudamericana de Vapores, Zim, Wan Hai, APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., and CMA-CGM.