Marine Institute’s Final EIR Certified

SAN PEDRO — The Los Angeles Harbor Commission certified the Southern California Marine Institute’s final Environmental Impact Report on Oct. 18.

The site for the proposed redevelopment will be City Dock No. 1, Los Angeles’ oldest municipal pier.

The campus will be used as a center for ocean related studies, business development and green technology.  A consortium of research institutions composed of Occidental College, the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, the UCLA Department of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences, the Ocean Studies Institute representing eight California State University campuses and affiliated marine research and conservation organizations.

The purpose is to provide a place in which scientist, researchers and entrepreneurs can collaborate and solve environmental and maritime industry challenges.

Identifying outside funding for the project will be the next step. In May, the Los Angeles Harbor Commission adopted a resolution supporting the development of an independent California nonprofit corporation with the ability to implement the proposed research center in collaboration with potential project users and tenants, in order to enter into a lease with the Port of Los Angeles to develop, create and maintain the facility.

The first phase, estimated at $63 million, suggest converting Berth 57 into an educational and research facility where the marine institute would relocate.

The second phase, estimated at $353 million, calls for renovating Berths 58-60 into additional space for marine research and a marine science business park to promote marine-based green technology and marine-related businesses.