POLA Begins Final Phase of Main Channel Deepening Project

SAN PEDRO -- The Port of Los Angeles announced the week ending July 24 that it began the final phase of its 13-year, $370 million Main Channel Deepening Project, after a 5-year delay.

On July 22, a barge containing roughly 4,000 tons of boulders and fill material began to discharge its payload at a designated outer harbor location. The site, directly west of Angels Gate, will be a containment area to hold clean dredge material and expand the POLA’s outer harbor shallow water habitat by an additional 50 acres.

The project was delayed for five years to identify and environmentally assess additional disposal sites for the soil dredged up by deepening POLA’s main waterways.

POLA officials have set a 3-year goal to complete the final phase of the Main Channel Deepening Project in light of the completion of the Panama Canal expansion in 2014. The widening of the Panama Canal will enable it to accommodate the larger ships that routinely call at Los Angeles and other major West Coast ports.

In fiscal year 2008/2009, the Harbor Department derived 74 percent of its overall revenues from its container terminals ($286 million of $402 million). More than 43,000 direct jobs are connected to marine terminal operations at the Port of Los Angeles.

“We presently have $350 million in terminal expansion projects underway at our China Shipping and container facilities,” Port Executive Director Geraldine Knatz said. “Resumption of the Main ChannelDeepening Project is key to delivering those projects on schedule – a commitment we have made to those terminal operators.”

POLA Receives Multiple Awards from American Association of Port Authorities

SAN PEDRO ― The Port of Los Angeles announced July 26 that it earned three 2010 American Association of Port Authorities awards, excelling in the areas of information technology, communications and environmental management.

The Port was recognized in the Information Technology category for its Enterprise Geographic Information System Project, GeoPOLA, a $1.9 million undertaking that integrates GIS systems, static and dynamic data and multiple platforms consolidating different divisional efforts and that overcomes significant organizational challenges covering more than 7,500 acres.

The Port also received the 2010 Dan Maynard Communications Award for Overall Excellence, bestowed on the port earning the most award points in American Association of Port Authorities’ Communications Awards Program competition in the advertising, audio, publications, special events and social media. The Port’s Communications team received honors for a dozen projects, including the Steppin' Back in Time historical audio tour, TransPORTer mobile education exhibit and 12th Annual Lobster Festival. This is the third time the Port has won the Dan Maynard Award in five years.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach jointly received an honorable mention in the environmental management category for the Water Resources Action Plan, a coordinated effort aimed at targeting remaining water and sediment pollution sources in San Pedro Bay.

More than 550 Union Activists from L.A. expected to travel to Arizona

LOS ANGELES -- More than 550 members of Los Angeles unions, faith, and community groups will travel with 11 chartered buses on a caravan to Phoenix, July 29, the day SB 1070 is scheduled to go into effect. Riders will gather at 4 a.m. at Dodger Stadium.

The activists are expected to meet with working Arizonans and kick off a new partnership with Arizona groups to increase Latino voter participation in the state and participate in a community forum on SB 1070 with Phoenix Councilman Michael Nowakowski, Phoenix Chief of Police Jack Harris and others.
They will march to the Arizona state Capitol and end their journey with a vigil there before returning to Los Angeles.

The delegation will return to Dodger Stadium by midnight.

CBP Intercepts First In The Nation Pest

LOS ANGELES ― U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport, intercepted a “first in the nation” pest, earlier this month, while inspecting a shipment of fresh cut flowers arriving from South Africa. The agency confirmed, July 20, that the pest was identified by U.S. Department of Agriculture as Toxoptera odinae Van Der Goot, an insect from the aphids group, never seen before in the United States. Aphids attack grains crops, fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants causing plant deformities, scarring, and lost of crops. The pest was destroyed.

Villaraigosa Chooses City Planning Director

LOS ANGELES – Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced his recommendation to appoint Michael LoGrande for the position of director of city planning on July 26. In that position, LoGrande would be responsible for delivering three of the mayor’s top initiatives: updating community plans; completing development reform; and implementing a reorganization of the planning department to better serve constituents. LoGrande will also lead the Planning Department in implementing a “Best-in-Class” development process.

His work in the Planning Department includes real estate initiatives, such as the creation in 2004 of the Expedited Processing Section, which entitled more than 15,000 housing units in a full cost recovery, fast-tracked process and major development projects such as Grand Avenue and the W Hotel. “Michael LoGrande has a deep knowledge of the City and its Planning Department that will enable him to immediately implement changes that will ensure the health of our City’s growing communities,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “With his extensive experience and commitment to the City, he is someone who can hit the ground running and quickly implement change.