By Steve Stallone and Marcy Rein

In less than a minute on April 28, a container exploding in the Port of Los Angeles exposed all the threats the Congressional hearings, government agency regulations and industry press hand-wringing on port security have never effectively addressed.

“The container violated nearly every rule of shipping that could be violated, from how it was packed to being transported without proper warnings to being waved through the gate without necessary information or inspection,” said Dave Arian, president of longshore Local 13.

The container, bound for Micronesia and about to be loaded aboard the Micronesian Heritage at the Trans Pacific Container Service Corp. (TraPac) terminal, had been packed and shipped by a private party. It slid through the gate even though it lacked a proper seal and manifest. It was closed with only a padlock, supposedly a violation of terminal rules, and its contents were described simply as FAK, that is “freight of all kinds,” a category no longer allowed for imports under post-Sept. 11 security regulations and previously required to be inspected if exported.

An ILWU casual longshore worker, Robert Vargas, was draying the container to the crane around 1:30 p.m. when the can blew, blasting out its top, sides and back doors and scattering its contents across the terminal. Vargas escaped without injury.

“If those doors had faced the opposite way, Vargas wouldn’t be here today,” said Local 13 day Business Agent Gilbert Fernandez, who arrived on the scene about 20 minutes after the explosion. “It looked like a war zone,” he said.

The force of the explosion sent a full-size refrigerator flying 64 feet down the aisle, said Local 63 Business Agent Joe Mascola, who also hurried to the terminal.

“Everything else landed in between,” Mascola said. “There was women’s clothes and underwear, Cheez Puffs, Top Ramen, head wraps, shampoo, five body bags—and six or seven boxes of flammables, including lighter fluid and butane stoves.”

A Toyota pick-up had been packed inside the can, with the other goods in its bed. Though the truck’s tank had been empty, firemen on the scene later told Mascola, the fumes apparently had filled the can and been ignited by a spark created by the battery hitting the engine coil.

The container had no labels warning of hazardous materials inside and under current terminal procedures, the ILWU marine clerks hadn’t been able to check it.

This is the container that slid onto the Tra-Pac terminal in the Port of Los Angeles without proper seals or documentation, and then exploded. If it had been loaded with the back doors facing the cab of the truck, the driver would’ve borne the full force of the blast.

“With the new computer systems, the companies don’t allow the clerks access to the screens they need to check the contents,” said Local 63 Secretary Peter Peyton. “The new computer systems should retain the checks and balances in the old system. It’s no good to make cargo movement faster but eliminate those.”

Immediately after the explosion, the ILWU BAs were only thinking about getting their members out of harm’s way. At first they didn’t know the source of the explosion.

“The company was so unsure they sent firemen out with Geiger counters and gauges for air quality,” Mascola said. “But prior to even knowing what caused the explosion, they were ordering people back to work. They had no concern for the people on the docks.”

The supervisor was still letting in trucks with loads. Though work had stopped on the Micronesian Heritage, the ship docked next to it at the terminal was still being worked.

Arian, Mascola and Fernandez told the TraPac supervisor the ILWU wanted the remaining 31 containers slotted for the Heritage to be inspected and wanted the gates closed until the area could be secured. TraPac refused, so the union pulled the members off the terminal on a health and safety beef.

Arbitrator David Miller arrived at TraPac around 5p.m. The employers were claiming the action was an illegal work stoppage, but Miller ruled it was a legitimate health and safety complaint and that the workers should be paid for the full shift. He also ruled that all 31 of the remaining containers must be inspected before being loaded.

TraPac was unable to get the proper government authorities out to the terminal for the inspections immediately, so no work was done that evening. The union wanted a Labor Relations Committee meeting with the employers at 6:00 the next morning to try to agree on how to operate that day and to work out an evacuation plan in case of any more accidents. But the employers refused to meet until 9:00 and then only wanted to discuss the casuals’ refusal to take jobs that day. The employers again accused the union of stopping work illegally, a charge the local denied.

“We just informed the casuals about the situation and that the employers had taken no action to secure the terminals,” Arian said. “They decided themselves not to go to work, mostly because the driver of the UTR with the exploding can was a casual.”

An emergency joint meeting of the executive boards of Locals 13 and 63 and foremen’s Local 91 at noon that day drew more than 2,000 members. The crowd heard from the heads of the Los Angeles and Long Beach Port Police, the Los Angeles Police Dept. and State Sen. Betty Karnette as well as their own officers.

“We have asked the Pacific Maritime Association to immediately implement four procedures we believe will remedy some of the problems facing our communities,” Arian said. Containers must be checked completely at the terminal gates and empties must be opened; containers with questionable documentation must be segregated for more thorough inspection; every port should immediately implement an evacuation plan and begin regular security drills, he said.

After two meetings with the PMA, the employers agreed to begin the security drills and work on the evacuation plans, but they are still stalling on the inspections and documentation.

“The union is also asking each agency involved to do a complete review of the incident,” Peyton said. “We saw violations of Dept. of Transportation, Customs, and Marine Transportation Security Act regulations as well as our contract.

“This one container shows how far backwards we’ve gone since 9-11,” he said. “The safety of our members and our communities is at risk.”