The Port of L.A. wants 16,000 trucks serving the port to be replaced with
newer, cleaner models. The older port trucks may still be polluting L.A. skies.
(Madeleine Scinto)

For six years, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowed he would take on the trucking industry and impose strict air quality rules to reduce the deadly emissions spewing from the Port of Los Angeles. His goal: cut pollution 80 percent by 2012.

With the mayor's prodding, the Port of L.A. launched the Clean Trucks initiative in 2008 and appeared to be on its way to scrubbing the air at the country's largest port. It banned pre-1989 models and offered incentives for buying newer and cleaner rigs to replace many of the 16,000 trucks doing business there every day.

The mayor's dream sounded close to reality in October when he called a news conference to announce a milestone: truck emissions had dropped 70 percent at the Port of Los Angeles, three years ahead of schedule.

"This is the most successful effort to clean a port in the world," Villaraigosa said. "I mean, think about it. Nobody thought it was possible to retrofit 5,000 trucks in a year, and we're at 5,500 and growing." The mayor sounded the same theme this month for an international audience at the Copenhagen climate-control talks, heralding the 70 percent reduction in port pollution as the "most far-reaching in the world."

No one at the October news conference cast much of a skeptical eye on the mayor's claims, or sought details to support the progress in the war on dirty air. Headlines in the L.A. Times the next day read, "Diesel emissions down drastically at ports of L.A., Long Beach."

A Neon Tommy team of investigative reporters set out to scrutinize the progress touted by the mayor, the Port of L.A. and environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council.

In interviews with truckers, port officials, and cargo companies, the team discovered some truck companies use new and cleaner trucks to pick up cargo, then transfer it to old and dirty trucks waiting just outside the port for the long haul through the region's freeway system to warehouses in the Inland Empire and points north of Los Angeles.

The practice circumvents the effort to ensure that all trucks serving the ports meet at least 2007 diesel emissions standards in the next five years. Truck-swapping practices undermine the overall goal of reducing port-related air pollution throughout the Los Angeles basin. The end-run also avoids Clean Truck Program fees, which apply to trucks 2006 or older that load cargo at the port.

"That is not the intent of the program," Stephen Cheung, port liaison for the Mayor's office, told Neon Tommy when asked about truckers bypassing the rules. "The idea is to clean up the air around the entire region, the San Pedro Bay region. We are definitely very concerned that this is indeed happening because it's going to be contrary to what we believe we want to achieve."

Cheung, as did officials at the Port of Los Angeles, raised the possibility of enforcement action against truckers engaging in any cargo swapping that allows dirty rigs to continue to spew pollution in the communities bordering L.A.'s major transportation arteries. It is unclear how widespread the practice might be.

Neon Tommy also examined the basis for the mayor's claims - a formula relying on projected emissions of the fleet registered to do business at the Port versus actual data recorded by the port's four air-monitoring stations. Experts say the formula is an accepted method to estimate pollution levels, but they also await the hard numbers from the monitoring stations.

Neon Tommy continues to seek documentation to support the claims of a cleaner fleet and a radical reduction in pollution caused by port operations. Requests for a list of all trucks registered to do business at the port and for data from the port's air monitoring stations have been filed under the California Public Records Act.

"What you have asked for, including air monitoring station data, will be part of a full detailed analysis that will happen after the end of 2009, when we will do a full emissions inventory," said the Port of L.A. spokesman, Phillip Sanfield, in an e-mail. Neon Tommy continues to seek data showing the levels of particulates and elemental carbon - the main byproducts of diesel exhaust.

Cleaning up diesel truck emissions and all port-related air pollution is vital to the health of many L.A. communities.

A 2007 report by California Air Resources Board estimated that failing to institute a clean truck program would cost 840 lives and health expenses of $5.9 billion over a 17-year period from 2008 until 2025.

Studies by the South Coast Air Quality Management District show the port and its trucks are major contributors to cancer-causing air pollution in Los Angeles. Trucks hauling cargo pollute communities near the port and along traffic corridors, such as the I-710 freeway which snakes away from the port, by releasing diesel emissions that significantly increase residents' risk of cancer and asthma.

Communities near truck operations suffer the most from any companies using the clean and dirty truck swap.

The team also requested a comprehensive list of all trucks that entered and exited the Port between July 1, 2009 and October 31, 2009 to determine which trucks make several turnarounds in a day and could be participating in the truck swap. A month later the Port instead emailed tables and charts showing the average number of times new and old trucks move cargo in and out of the port each month.

The tables provided by the port suggest how common the practice of truck swapping may be. In September, for example, new trucks meeting 2007 EPA standards made up only 30 percent of the port fleet but completed 63 percent of cargo pick ups.

Port officials and trucking industry insiders acknowledge that shiny, new trucks move cargo around the port more while the older, more polluting trucks are still hauling cargo through the L.A. basin. But no one knows exactly how many truckers are engaged in the practice.

But the swapping and the lack of measured data leave the mayor's claims and the effectiveness of the program up in the air.

"What's the difference if you're just going to have a clean truck drive 20 or 40 feet away from the port, and then have a dirty truck pick up the cargo and drive it all over the state?" asks Frank Montano, a manager of the South Pacific Container truck company.

"What's the point?"

The Truck Swap

To encourage truck replacement, the Clean Truck Program charges extra loading fees for trucks that fail to meet 2007 EPA standards and emit significantly more diesel emissions. The extra fees amount to $35 per standard container of shipping cargo. It can add hundreds of dollars to trucking costs each time a non-compliant truck loads at the port, a significant burden to truckers in the low-profit margin business.

Some trucking companies skirt the fees by using their newest trucks to load cargo inside the port. Once outside the port terminal, companies transfer the cargo onto older big rigs.

"It's economical simply because switching the cargo from a new truck that doesn't have to pay the port fee onto an older truck allows companies to still use their older trucks every day for a cheaper cost," said Curtis Whalen, a director of the American Trucking Association (ATA).

As a result, the new trucks seem to be doing circles around the port. Chris Cannon, director of the Clean Truck Program, said the new trucks average about five cargo pickups a day. Both Cannon and Whalen confirm five cargo loads is considerably more than trucks used to do before the Clean Truck Program began.

Port spokesman Philip Sanfield later e-mailed Neon Tommy to correct Cannon's statement, saying their data show average gate moves for clean trucks are about 2 per day. "Though we do have some clean trucks that make 5 or more gate moves in a day," said Sanfield.

"Two years ago, three would be a good day," said Whalen. "The new trucks can't be going very far. They certainly aren't going the 50 miles trucks used to go if they're averaging five gate moves [or cargo loads] a day."

Ozzie Zea, assistant vice president of Intermodal Bridge Transport in Wilmington, says his company's clean trucks only go as far as Carson because otherwise "it's not cost effective." Carson sits 10 miles north of the port.

One trucker who works for Zea said his company actually practices the clean-to-dirty truck swap at their yard located only a couple blocks from the port gates.

Lisa Warshaw, a spokeswoman for Coalition for Clean Air, said her organization is aware of the anecdotes. "This underscores the need for comprehensive rules of enforcement," she said. "If this is happening, the truckers are skirting the spirit of the rule."

The older trucks also get better gas mileage than the newer trucks, says ATA spokesman Clayton Boyce. This makes it even cheaper to use the older trucks for the longer hauls through Los Angeles and San Bernardino.

If older trucks do the majority of the long hauls, it means they continue to add to the already polluted I-710 corridor.

Cancer Alley

The corridor, also known as "cancer alley," is one of the most highly polluted areas in the South Coast air basin outside of the immediate port area. Hardest-hit communities include Wilmington, Carson, Compton, Huntington Park and Commerce, all the way to Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Studies by the state Air Resources Board and by the South Coast Air Quality Management District have found these communities suffer from increased cancer risk compared to the rest of Los Angeles.

Both air quality agencies confirm diesel emissions make up most of cancer-causing air pollution.

The state agency discovered diesel emissions from the ports elevate cancer risk levels over the entire 20-mile by 20-mile study area surrounding the port. And the regional agency found diesel exhaust accounts for about 84 percent of region-wide cancer risk.

A study published in November in the American Journal of Public Health showed that 9 percent of all childhood asthma cases in Long Beach can be blamed on proximity to freeways and roads serving the port.

With these statistics in mind, environmental and community groups have strongly supported added restrictions on trucks.

The Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports, a group of over 100 environmental, health and labor organizations, fought for the adoption of the program over the objections of some in the trucking industry.

"The Clean Trucks Program plan to reduce truck diesel emissions is one of the most progressive in the world," said Jessica Lass, spokeswoman for the NRDC, a member of the coalition. "It is significant because truck pollution is a large part of the pollution puzzle."

The program successfully banned all pre-1989 trucks. Trucks that comply with 2007 emissions standards produce 98 percent less particulate matter than a typical 1989 model, says the port's Stanfield.

CARB spokesman Leo Kay explained the aggressive targeting of port trucks first is meant to correct the long-standing neglect of port communities. "The big reason behind this is to reduce diesel emission pollutions in neighborhoods that have borne the brunt of it for far too long," Kay said.

The mayor's emissary to the L.A. port, Cheung, said the $60 million allocated for cleaning up the Port of L.A. was also intended to help the larger population of Los Angeles. "With that heavy investment we would like to see results not just at the Port of Los Angeles but also in the surrounding communities and the entire region," he said.

The 70 Percent Solution

A 70 percent reduction in truck emissions at the port sounds like good news for the communities of cancer alley. But, where did the number come from?

When Neon Tommy asked truckers and trucking company managers whether they found Southern California air any cleaner, they seemed skeptical.

Are you serious?" asked Ozzie Zea of IBT trucking sarcastically. Then he burst into laughter.

Many seemed even more incredulous that truck diesel emissions had been reduced by 70 percent.

The Port of L.A. did not use data from air monitoring stations to come up with the 70 percent number, but instead used a formula that projected a 70 percent reduction in truck emissions.

The Port's formula begins with a review of all the trucks authorized to do pick up cargo. The average rate of emissions is found for trucks in each model year from the oldest going all the way up to a brand new truck. Then the numbers of trucks of each model year are counted up and averaged together to calculate the average rate of emissions for the entire truck fleet.

Officials then created hypothetical 2007 and 2009 fleets.

"We compared the rate of emissions for the hypothetical average 2007 fleet trucks to the rate of emissions for the hypothetical average 2009 fleet truck," said Cannon.

The difference between the two groups came to about 70 percent. The calculation, however, does not consider each truck's mileage or the amount of goods they move in a year.

That would get "tricky," said Cannon. "So we chose to use the simpler emissions rate comparison."

This means the port's formula fails to project the entire volume of emissions trucks churn out into the L.A. basin.

The calculation's other shortcoming is it only counts trucks that pick up cargo. By not including dirty trucks stopping just outside the port, or entering the port without picking up cargo, the formula produces more favorable results.

Despite these issues, Mark Bernstein, manager of USC's Energy Institute, believes these formula details are less important than the results.

"Whether it's 80 percent or 82 percent or 78 percent," said Bernstein. "It doesn't really matter. What matters is you go from where it is today and you cut it down by a lot."

Lass, of the NRDC, said the formula the port used is an accepted way to estimate emissions. But she eventually wants to see the hard data to support the estimate of "70 percent." "The formula is a projection and you always want to see projections actually verified by the data."

Recession as an Air Cleaner

Truckers, and the goods movement industry in general, have been hit hard by economic pressures.

"Before the recession we worked and ate," said truck driver Victor Gonzales outside a truck stop. "The recession is obligating us to practically undo ourselves. With all the sacrifices we're making, it's just really hard."

Some experts credit the recession with the overall decrease in particulate matter. "The later parts of 2008 and early 2009 we have seen a significant drop. Part of that is attributable to the economy," said AQMD spokesman Sam Atwood.

The Port of L.A. right now is facing "the worst depression in the last 50 years," confirms Cannon.

The recent economic downturn means less cargo movement into the port and the fewer trucks needed to haul cargo.

There used to be 1,500 to 2,500 licensed motor carriers operating within the port in the years before the program began.  By December 1, the number was down to 836, said Sanfield.

One reason, Cannon said, is that many companies cannot afford the newer trucks.

"The company I work for is going out of business," said driver Bilma Pineada at the wheel of a 1999 truck."The economy is bad. And right now it's not even worth it to buy a new truck because [the company] can't afford the payments."

When Neon Tommy asked Whalen to explain the decrease in pollution, he attributed it to the economy. But, he added, "I'll let the Port of L.A. say it's their Clean Truck Program."

CARB insists it is in the long haul to reduce diesel air pollution through the Clean Truck Program and future regulatory action.

"We're going after diesel emissions sources throughout the state," said Kay of CARB. "We're focusing primarily early on in the ports, but this is going to extend to just about every diesel engine you see in the state of California over the next 10-15 years."

What effect is Long Beach's air pollution having on school-aged children in the area? Click here for more.