New drive to fix broken port trucking system key to solving pollution dilemma blocking huge L.A. & Long Beach port expansion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2006

Three days before Los Angeles and Long Beach port officials vote on a landmark clean air plan needed before port operations can be dramatically expanded, a broad-based coalition premieres a new drive Friday to reform the trucking system responsible for much of the Harbor's dirty air. The Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports is a new amalgam of environmental, labor, faith-based, community and public health groups.

More than 16,000 mostly old and poorly maintained trucks-operating through more than 600 often fly-by-night and unregulated trucking firms-produce 30 to 40 percent of port air pollution. One study found poorly-paid drivers spend up to 50 percent of their time waiting to transfer loads with engines idling and emitting soot. Meantime, with the nation's seaports considered vulnerable to terrorist attack a gaping hole in security are thousands of drivers-whose annual turnover rate exceeds 130 percent-and their cargos that routinely pass in and out with little attention.

The recently-formed coalition's campaign premise is that port clean air goals can't be met without structurally changing the trucking system so drivers, mostly immigrants, can earn enough money to maintain and repair their vehicles. Other changes making the system more efficient would mean drivers spending less time waiting and spewing exhaust.

Who:  Joining truck drivers are coalition members Adrian Martinez, Natural Resources Defense Council; Rafael Pizarro, Coalition for Clean Air; Elina Green, Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma; Nativo Lopez, Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana; Angelo Logan, East Yard Communities for Economic Justice; and William Smart and Patricia Castellanos, L.A. Alliance for a New Economy.

What:    Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports kicking off new drive to meet L.A. and Long Beach ports' clean air goals by fixing a broken trucking system.

When:    Friday, Nov. 20, 2006.

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Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports * 1714 Franklin St., Suite 325, Oakland, CA 94607

The Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports is committed to working with Port stakeholders to develop a lasting solution to the crisis in port trucking. The Coalition includes environmental, labor, faith, public health and community organizations that are promoting sustainable economic development at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

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