July 21, 2005

To whom it may concern,

We, the residents of the Coolidge Triangle neighborhood and members of the Coolidge Triangle Homeowners Association would like to express our concerns about the PierPASS OffPeak program.

We have two very significant areas of concern with this program and how it will affect the quality of life, especially in the Coolidge Triangle area and other communities near the I-710 freeway.  Those concerns are as follows:

1) We are concerned that this program will cause significant local air quality issues and therefore create a threat to our health as the number of truck trips during nighttime periods increases along with the increase in the total number of truck trips.

2) We are also concerned that this program will cause the noise levels emitted from the freeways to increase significantly throughout the nighttime due to the increase in truck traffic.

The following facts are presented:

There are some homes in the Coolidge Triangle neighborhood area that are as little as 50 feet from the 710 or 91 freeways, and many, many more that are within 1000 feet.

The OffPeak program claims to reduce traffic and pollution by shifting up to 50% of daytime truck traffic to other times of the night, when trucks will impact freeway commuter traffic less and be able to move more quickly.  The claimed goal of PierPASS is that 45% (but no more than 50%) of all port traffic will be moved to OffPeak hours.  Yet, the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have stated that their volume will double in as little as 5 years, meaning the current 35,000 truck trips per day could reach 70,000 truck trips per day.

The OffPeak program claims that pollution will be reduced because the trucks on the 710 freeway moving at high speeds will emit less diesel pollution per mile than they do at slower speeds, yet no actual numbers have been provided that proves this claim or even quantifies the anticipated results.

The California Air Resources Board indicates a thorough analysis of air quality Impacts should be done for any scenarios where traffic volume of over 20,000 heavy-duty diesel trucks per day is within 1000 feet (300 meters) of housing.  An anticipated increase of 35,000 truck trips per day over a 5-year period easily meets this requirement.

At a PierPASS meeting on June 18, 2005, Roger Holman expressed a number of these concerns during an open mike session and also asked a number of questions, including why no Environmental Impact Report has been done for this project.  While multiple employees of the PierPASS outreach program were given his contact information, he has received no response to that question whatsoever.  The PierPASS outreach representative that was speaking actually did agree that we probably have a valid issue with regards to the anticipated increases in noise.

The CEO of the PierPASS organization, Bruce Wargo, indicated to one of our elected representative offices that his organization would contact Roger Holman right away about these concerns and they have not done so.

A representative from one of the PierPASS outreach organizations attended the June, 2005 general meeting of the Coolidge Triangle Homeowners Association and promised to return with answers to the July, 2005 meeting to report back on some of our concerns.  No follow-up visit from any PierPASS outreach organization has occurred.

The SCAQMD MATES II study indicates carcinogenic risk in the tri-county basin area from ambient measurements is approximately 1,400 per million people, and that 70% of that risk is attributed to diesel particulate emissions.  A significant increase in truck traffic during the nighttime and early morning hours will expose residents to increased cancer risk, and children to increased risk of getting asthma, especially during the hot summer months, when people leave their windows open all night to cool off.

It is for these reasons that we have voted unanimously at our general meeting on July 20, 2005 to insist on suspension of the PierPASS OffPeak program until such time that the following issues are addressed:

o          PierPASS will prepare an Environmental Impact Report on the OffPeak program and present it to the effected communities along the I-710 corridor.
o          Demonstrate how any health impacts to the community that may result from this program will be mitigated.
o          Provide suitable noise mitigation created by the additional evening and early morning truck traffic.
o          Demonstrate how changes in prevailing winds during nighttime hours will affect potential impacts to the Coolidge Triangle Neighborhood and all other neighborhoods along the I-710 corridor.

Sincerely,

Roger Holman
Coolidge Triangle Homeowners Association
President, 2003-2005