(l-r) Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joins ILWU International President James Spinosa and Los Angeles Harbor Commissioner Joseph Radisich in answering reporters' questions about their call to reduce harmful, dirty diesel emissions from oceangoing vessels at a press conference in Long Beach, CA on Monday, January 30, 2006. The announcement was made during the Faster Freight Cleaner Air 2006 Conference, a meeting of federal, state and local officials, industry representatives, technology providers, community advocates and public health experts all focused on the challenges facing the goods movement industry, PHOTO BY: Floyd Bryant.
By John Showalter
Fed up with air pollution at West Coast ports and its adverse affects on longshore workers and their communities, the ILWU launched a new initiative for healthier workplaces and neighborhoods. Called the “Saving Lives” campaign, the ILWU is calling for a 20 percent reduction in ship smokestack emissions by 2010.
ILWU International President James Spinosa, with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at his side, announced the call for tougher measures to clean up the air at ports Monday, Jan. 30 at a conference on goods movement and its health effects in Long Beach, Calif. They made their remarks before a packed room of reporters, local, state and federal agency officials, business representatives and several members of the Southern California longshore locals attending the Faster Freight Cleaner Air 2006 Conference (FFCA). Also speaking at the press conference were Los Angeles Harbor Commissioner and Local 13 member Joseph Radisich and ILWU Coast Safety Committee Chair John Castanho from Local 10.
“The thousands of men and women I represent and work for raise their families under the cloud of port pollution,” Spinosa said. “They have made a simple demand of their union. While they want to earn a good living, they do not want to pay with their lives for a stronger economy.”
Radisich, who developed the “Saving Lives” strategy, laid out the particulars of the program.
Vessel emissions are recognized as the single largest source of air pollution in modern ports. Recent health studies by the State of California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and others show that microscopic particulate matter emitted by oceangoing vessels’ engines is carcinogenic and a significant contributor to respiratory disorders like asthma. Residents and longshore workers who live and work at or near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach face some of the gravest threats coastwise from carcinogenic diesel emissions. In these areas, one in 200 people can expect to develop cancer because of the polluted air.
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have begun moves to cut back on ship pollution, requiring new terminals to provide electric power for docked vessels, a process called cold ironing, and by requiring ships to go slower as they approach the ports. The have also moved to require cleaner fuels for cargo-handling equipment on the docks and reductions in diesel truck idling. But more needs to be done.
The SCAQMD, the California Air Resource Board and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have all made noises about trying to regulate vessel emissions, but their legal jurisdiction over international ship-owning companies is questionable. The ILWU, with its coastwise contract and national and international ties with other dockworker unions, is in a unique position to push for the maritime industry to implement new, cleaner standards.
Spinosa said the union will work to promote the retrofitting of existing harbor craft with cleaner engines, the use of alternative, cleaner fuels and the development of new technologies to reduce pollution, especially for new ships. The ILWU will also work with state and federal officials for more effective anti-pollution policies and with its international allies to get the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations Agency concerned with safe shipping and cleaner oceans, to develop stronger international standards.
The mayor affirmed his commitment to continued economic prosperity at the nation’s busiest pair of ports, but in a way that will not further harm the health of port community residents.
“Today, we launch a historic partnership with the ILWU,” Villaraigosa said. “As Los Angeles continues to grow its economy, we must address the negative environmental and health impacts of trade. Solving this problem will require bonds of partnership and a strong commitment to action from all parties.”
Later that same week, on Friday, Feb. 3, Spinosa, Coast Committeeman Ray Ortiz, Jr., and Public Relations Committee Chair David Arian joined Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn in supporting a unanimously-approved City Council resolution calling for federal ratification of an international standard for ship smokestack emissions. The agreement creates limits on emissions from vessel exhaust. It is scheduled to go into effect in nations that have ratified it on May 19, 2006, although the U.S. is still not among those nations.
