California Apparel News

Port of Los Angeles officials are making waves to build a multi-million dollar container-inspection facility near the docks to examine cargo containers that pose a high security risk.

The high-tech container facility would be the first of its kind in the country, according to port officials, and would be in addition to the four privately run warehouses scattered 10 miles away throughout Carson, Calif., where customs inspectors scrutinize containers for contraband, transshipped goods, drugs and security-suspicious items.

The building would be owned by the port but used by a diverse group of law enforcement agencies, primarily U.S. Customs and Border Protection, for inspection of special, high-risk and randomly selected cargo containers.

But already the proposed facility has some customs brokers worried that the project will only mean more delays in getting cargo off the docks and onto store shelves. Another major concern is that inspectors start examining more containers than they do now.

“Security is obviously a major concern for everyone,” said Peter Burke, director of fashion services at Target Logistic Services in Carson. “But that will affect things and take them out of the normal flow.”

“Any movement of containers out of the terminals involves some time delay. That goes without saying,” said Ernie Stein, vice president of operations at Los Angeles–based customs broker and freight forwarder Norman Krieger Inc.

A feasibility study for the proposed container facility has been completed. URS Corp., a San Francisco engineering firm, began the conceptual design phase this summer with the help of a $2.5 million grant awarded by the Department of Homeland Security. In addition, the Port of Los Angeles is paying $1.3 million to help cover the rest of the design costs. But the port still hasn’t figured out how it will come up with the $75 million to $90 million for the entire facility. Port officials will have to seek additional grants and funding to help complete the project.

The proposed container-inspection facility would be located on Terminal Island, a patch of land between Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. Both the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach would utilize the site.

The facility would occupy the 14 acres where the U.S. Customs Building used to be located until it moved to Long Beach in the late 1990s.

George Cummings, director of homeland security at the Port of Los Angeles, is directing the project. He said one of the facility’s advantages is that it would be more high-tech than the current warehouses being used.

“We would like to have it equipped with state-of-the-art, sophisticated cargo-scanning and detection equipment,” Cummings said. “With the conceptual design phase, they are working on the basic layout, on the number of buildings there would be and the function of each one.”

If funding is found, the inspection site could be up and running in two to three years.

The facility would be operated by a private enterprise, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection doing most of the inspections. Customs strongly supports the project.

“It streamlines the process,” said Todd Hoffman, CBP’s port director for Long Beach and Los Angeles. “Physically, the proposed facility is only a half mile to a mile away, which is better than dredging it 10 miles away.”

Several inspection methods

Right now, any cargo containers subject to physical exams are taken to one of four privately run warehouses used almost exclusively by CBP inspectors and other government officials. At these customs examination sites, containers are opened and dissected box by box. If all goes well, an offsite inspection takes three to five days. But if glitches pop up, it can be as long as seven to 10 days.

Containers suspected of trade violations, such as goods inaccurately described, mislabeled or transshipped, are taken to a 262,000-square-foot bonded warehouse operated by Price Transfer Inc. in Carson. Containers believed to be carrying items such as drugs packed inside furniture or illegally imported firearms are taken to another bonded Price Transfer facility, also in Carson.

Items that need to be inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are taken to FCL Logistics in Carson, which has cold rooms to refrigerate food items and perishables. USC Intermodal in Carson is the fourth customs inspection site.

Currently, if a container were suspected of carrying bombs or explosive devices, it would be isolated near the port—with the help of the port’s fire department and the U.S. Coast Guard—and inspected, Hoffman said. “Fortunately, we haven’t had any of those,” he noted.

Customs officials use X-ray machines on the docks to inspect about 3 percent of the containers coming off ships. But the government’s goal has been to make its inspection process more efficient “We are trying to refine our strategy,” Hoffman said. “We will do a risk analysis and inspect 100 percent of what we deem to be high risk.”

Nearly 100 percent of containers pass through radiation portal monitors as they are hauled by trucks through the terminal gates. “On any given day, we have hundreds of radiation alerts because things like granite, tile and TV tubes give off natural radiation,” Hoffman said. “We don’t overreact, but we know how to handle each alarm.”

With a new, nearby container-inspection facility, containers considered security risks would be hauled to Terminal Island, avoiding surface streets or the Long Beach (710) Freeway, making it safer for residents, local businesses and motorists.

While importers are wary that a new facility might delay some of the ports’ trade activity, the facility is welcomed by port officials and nearby residents.

“The political reality is people living between here and Carson are going to feel better if we inspect this cargo [at the port] before it goes anyplace else,” said Art Wong, a spokesperson for the Port of Long Beach. “It makes sense that there is a facility here for the two ports.”