"When are we going to stop expanding the port to the detriment of  the community?" 

At the August 24, 2004 Long Beach City Council meeting, Councilman Val Lerch asked the Port Of Long Beach Executive Director, Richard Steinke this very question.  Councilman Lerch has confirmed that as of July 21, 2005, the question has never been answered.  The closest Mr. Steinke came to answering that question in the meeting was to say "we will eventually hit a saturation point and will not be able to grow any more".

If there is anyone who does not think that this is an insult to our intelligence and/or virtually a slap in the face, please contact me right away so we can discuss putting your position on this website.

Coolidge Triangle Homeowners Association rejects PierPASS OffPeak program because it fast tracks poisoning of the community.

On July 21, 2005 a letter was mailed to:

• Bruce Wargo, PierPASS Inc. President and CEO

• Thomas E. Stephenson, PierPASS Chief Financial Officer

• Janice Hahn, Los Angeles City Councilwoman

• Val Lerch, Long Beach Ninth District Councilman

• Doris Topsy-Elvord, President Long Beach Harbor Commission

Additionally, another copy was hand-delivered to Senator Alan Lowenthal's Long Beach office the same day.  [read the contents of that letter]

July 23, 2005: Initial Response to PierPASS comments on LBReport.com

If  you've read the comments from PierPASS spokesman Ryan Rauzon on LBReport.com, you might be interested in what he didn't say (or deny):

Yes, the ports expect that there will be twice as many port truck trips per day in as little as 5 years;

Yes, port volume expansion does and will continue to expose the People of Long Beach to more and more carcinogenic pollution;

No, there are not enough efforts being made to find ways to move freight from the ports without putting people at more risk.

No, nobody has actually committed to any measurable reduction in pollution from PierPASS or what quantified what the pollution reduction results PierPASS is expected to have.  If they can't quantify or demonstrate the results, how can they know or show it works at all?

Yes, putting our health at more risk could be stopped by simply ceasing volume expansion, easily done by sending container volume (over the current number of containers) that is NOT bound for this region (by his own words, 60%-70%) through other ports, which would also spread our country's dependency on the port system better across other regions, in the process, reducing the impact (and risk) of a total port shutdown due to any terrorist activities.

Yes, even though we have local asthma rates at twice what they are in other regions, the ports don't think that we have hit the "saturation point" that Mr. Steinke describes will be the end of port expansion.