L.A. Harbor Shut Down : Gas Leak May Force Evacuations

Los Angeles Harbor was shut down this morning after a leaking one-ton canister of highly flammable triflouropropene gas on a cargo ship forced the U.S. Coast Guard to close the main channel to shipping.

Officials said the threat of fire or explosion meant that parts of Terminal Island and San Pedro might have to be evacuated if the Coast Guard decides to tow the ship past them out of the harbor to unload the vessel at sea. Los Angeles city Fire Department officials conferred with the Coast Guard during the day to determine the best way to proceed.

There was no estimate on when the harbor would be reopened.

The officials said the leaking canister was one of 15 in a large cargo container buried deep in the hold of the Ever Group, a Taiwanese-registered 882-foot freighter docked at Berth 230 on the main channel. Several other containers were stacked above the one containing the canisters.

“There are other extremely hazardous (explosive) chemicals on that boat,” said Patrick O’Donnell, an official with the Los Angeles County Health Department. “We’re talking about large quantities. That’s what the trouble is.”

Spokesmen for the Port of Los Angeles said the tie-up was costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in delays at the second-busiest harbor in the nation. Eight ships, among them the cruise liner Azure Seas, had been scheduled to arrive at the port today.

Some ships were being diverted to the adjacent Long Beach Harbor, and others were marooned at the docks or stalled in the outer harbor, awaiting berths. Officials said such delays typically cost a ship about $40,000 a day.

The Fire Department said it began receiving reports of a strange smell in the main channel area on Wednesday. Because of shifting winds, however, the source of the leak was not pinpointed until Thursday night.

The decision to seal off the main channel between Reservation Point and the Vincent Thomas Bridge--a distance of about two miles--was made at about 10 p.m. Thursday to create a safety zone around the Ever Group. Coast Guard cutters were posted at each end of the channel to halt traffic.

The main channel is one of two routes that give cargo and passenger ships access to berths at the Port of Los Angeles.

Ordinarily, ships heading in and out of the port could bypass the main channel and use the other route, the Cerritos Channel leading to Long Beach Harbor. However, the Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Drawbridge on the Terminal Island Freeway was stuck in the closed position on Friday, sealing off the Cerritos Channel.

“The Port of Los Angeles is essentially closed,” said Petty Officer Robert Beals, a spokesman for the Coast Guard.

Los Angeles Harbor has been the site of several devastating ship explosions in the past.

On Dec. 17, 1976, a spark ignited fumes aboard the oil tanker Sansinena at the Union Oil Co. Terminal in San Pedro, setting off a thunderous explosion that killed nine men and caused damage estimated at $21.6 million.

In June, 1947, the tanker Markay was taking on aviation fuel at Mormon Island when a blast tore through the ship, killing 12 and causing $10 million damage.