FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE      CONTACT:  Katie Chimenti, 281-286-9750

Monday, June 28, 2004, 12:54:38 AM                Nancy Edmonson, 281-471-4567

PORTS BREAK PROMISES

The Long Beach Experience

Decaying communities and plunging property values surrounding new ports in other cities show that vast container terminals have negative impacts far outweighing the benefits of any jobs they bring, according to advocates for Galveston Bay.

“Long Beach was a stunning sight,” said Houston environmental planning consultant Peter Brown after a research visit to the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.  “The port seems to be always expanding.  Container trucks clog the freeways with daily back-ups of two to three miles on the Long Beach Expressway. Surrounding communities live in the shadow of piled-up container yards. Residents feel helpless. There is no meaningful dialogue between the port authority and the community.”

Brown’s land use study is for the Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association (GBCPA), which is spearheading opposition to the Port of Houston Authority’s plans for a new terminal covering more than 1,000 acres at Bayport.

“Until you visit the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach, it is impossible to imagine the enormity and impact of a facility like Bayport,” said Brown. “What I witnessed in Los Angeles is, frankly, much worse than one expects, particularly the continuous intrusion on neighborhoods and the truck traffic.”

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Ports Break Promises, 2 of 2

Los Angeles is a “convincing example that no amount of buffering or remedial measures can alleviate the effects of such large facilities,” said Brown. In his interviews at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, community leaders and residents of the neighboring cities of Wilmington and San Pedro described how the Port, over 30 years, has been insensitive to community needs and has broken promises made to residents.

“The first thing they tell you is ‘We’ll give you jobs.’ The port will promise you the world,” said Wilmington Citizens Coalition leader Lucy Mejia. But people “don’t realize all the other things they’re going to give you,” she added. “They haven’t helped us at all.”

San Pedro residents agree, including John Barbieri, an engineer who heads Port Watch. The Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach has generated overwhelming truck traffic, freeway gridlock, diesel pollution, and health problems. A commercial district and several residential neighborhoods overlooking the harbor were leveled and replaced by container yards. The repeated theme is that people were led to believe that the port would be a stimulus to the community, but instead find the reverse applies.

GBCPA followed up Brown’s initial work with a documentary film about Long Beach. The film is intended to offer citizens of Greater Houston insight into likely scenarios if the Bayport terminal goes ahead. Copies are available to community groups upon request.

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Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association

P.O. Box 323, Seabrook, Texas 77586                                 Phone: 281-326-3343

Website: http://www.gbcpa.net                                        E-mail:  gbcpa@ev1.net

Stop Bayport: The Fight Continues

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