An environmental advocacy group sued the city of Los Angeles and its Harbor Department Tuesday, alleging the Port of Los Angeles has routinely exceeded legal limits on fecal bacteria, copper and other cancer- causing pollutants discharged into San Pedro Bay.
Environment California also alleges that the port's stormwater treatment system is drastically undersized and that, as a result, untreated wastewater frequently bypasses the system entirely, violating federal law, according to the suit filed in Los Angeles federal court.
A message seeking comment from the LA City Attorney's Office was not immediately returned.
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The lawsuit discusses how stormwater pollution after rainfall frequently forces the closure of Southern California beaches. Inner Cabrillo Beach, located at the edge of LA Harbor and just downstream from the port, was ranked as one of the beaches with the most potentially unsafe days by Environment America in its 2023 "Safe for Swimming?" report. Beaches in Long Beach are also frequently closed to the public after rain due to health hazards posed by high levels of bacteria, the group said.
At issue, plaintiffs contend, is stormwater conveyed from a 53-acre portion of the port, located about 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, to an on-site treatment system. That system is supposed to remove the grit, toxic metals and bacteria that accumulate on the property during dry weather.
However, the Los Angeles-based advocacy organization says the port's treatment system is both ineffective and undersized. According to the lawsuit, the port has consistently violated the federal Clean Water Act for years by discharging excessive, illegal levels of fecal bacteria and copper. Despite regularly paying a mandatory minimum state penalty of $3,000 per violation, the violations have continued unabated, Environment California alleges.
"Everyone in and around the Los Angeles Harbor knows that the water quality is terrible," Laura Deehan, Environment California's state director, said in a statement.
"We are suing to get the port's pollution of San Pedro Bay under control and make it a model for improving water quality. If a well-funded city department pollutes in violation of its Clean Water Act permit limits, how can the city expect anyone else to comply?"
Deehan called for the city to upgrade its water treatment systems at the port.
"This is a classic case of `pay-to-pollute,' where the port habitually violates its Clean Water Act permit, pays a slap-on-the-wrist- penalty, and then, undeterred, just goes right on polluting," she said. "As storms become more severe due to climate change, it is imperative that the port upgrade its treatment systems to keep illegal, preventable pollution out of our coastal waters. The port can afford to solve this problem -- and the people of California cannot afford for unchecked pollution like this to continue."
The port is a department of the city that is entirely funded through leasing and shipping fees assessed on more than 200 shipping companies that use the facility. It has been the top container port in the United States for each of the last 24 years. The port encompasses 7,500 acres of land and water, handles around $300 billion worth of cargo each year, and had net operating revenues of $357 million in 2023, according to Environment California.
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