Court Allows LA Terminal Expansion

A California Superior Court judge turned down a request from the city of Riverside that would have stopped expansion of the China Shipping Container Line terminal until the Port of Los Angeles completed a new environmental impact study.

Riverside, which is about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, charged that the terminal expansion project will generate additional intermodal rail traffic and the port’s EIR did not adequately address the impact of this freight traffic on the community.

Also, Riverside wanted the port to help pay for grade separation projects to prevent the trains from interfering with vehicular traffic.

The decision by Judge Ronald Bauer is significant because intermodal trains from the seaport often travel thousands of miles and pass through dozens of communities before reaching their destination. Granting Riverside’s request could have opened the door to similar lawsuits from other communities.

Judge Bauer ruled that the port did in fact consider the impact of rail traffic on the city of Riverside and its conclusions were justified.

Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bmongelluzzo@joc.com.