The clean air agency responsible for protecting Los Angeles area residents from deadly air pollution contends in a draft study that Southland residents' risk of cancer from exposure to toxic air pollution has been reduced by at least 15 percent in the last seven years.

Some saw these results as a success for the ports. As Long Beach Harbor Commissioner Dr. Mike Walter told his colleagues at a January 7 commission meeting:

“I think this is something we can all celebrate…it’s just wonderful we made that progress."

But a closer look attributes the drop not to the Ports, but possibly to mandates on stationary pollution sources such as drycleaners or a change in methodology for calculating the risk. The study did, however, find that the highest risks from air toxins came from the port areas, followed by trade routes along South Los Angeles.

The report also revealed that diesel emissions from ships, trains and trucks remain the single largest problem, and it is responsible for a much higher percentage of the total cancer risk than previously thought. As officials with the South Coast Air Quality Management, the agency that released the study, made clear in the press:

Executive Director Barry Wallerstein to the Long Beach Press Telegram: “Diesel exhaust remains public enemy No. 1.”

Board member and Mayor of Chino Dennis Yates to the Los Angeles Times: "Diesel exhaust is the 900-pound gorilla.”

It’s been over a year since the LA and Long Beach Ports passed the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) but those living along trade-related transportation corridors still anxiously await the “action” part that will mandate improvements by those who profit from goods movement. For an analysis by several CAAP implementation taskforce members and other stakeholders of the Ports’ slow pace in implementing the plan, click here.

These delays are deadly. “Most people would say an acceptable cancer risk is maybe 1 to 10 people in a million, but we're averaging 1,200 in a million,” Wallerstein noted.

San Pedro Bay residents will raise their glasses only when the Ports make good on their promise to end the diesel death sentence that plagues the harbor communities and helps keep the Los Angeles Basin continually on the top of the list for the nation’s filthiest air.