Nearly 11 months after the Port of Los Angeles and Gambol Industries agreed to sit down and see if it's really possible to convert the former Southwest Marine facility into a modern shipyard, port staff are reporting that it could be done but at great expense and massive disruption to the final leg of the port's channel-deepening project.

The report also said that a number of other agencies would have to buy into a major change in plans. And based on the feedback from the California Coastal Conservancy, such buy-in seems out of the question.

L.A. harbor commissioners will hold a special meeting Tuesday at which time they are slated to discuss a 25-page staff report that describes communications between Gambol and port staff, input from other agencies, the technical details of Gambol's proposal and unresolved matters, including a cost difference of as much as $15 million between the port's original plan and Gambol's proposal. The staff report is accompanied by 20 back-up documents.

A key issue is whether Berths 243-245 - designated for disposal of dredged material from other port redevelopment projects - can be reconfigured to serve as both a landfill and a working shipyard to the satisfaction of other agencies whose approvals would be needed.

Another issue is whether there's an adequate market for Gambol's proposed business. The staff report describes Gambol's repair market as "overstated."
The board likely will hear from Gambol representatives. Officials from other regulatory agencies also are expected to participate.

Tuesday's agenda calls for an open session board discussion followed by a closed-door meeting in which commissioners are expected to consider related legal issues.

Meanwhile, the agreement that sidelined Gambol's challenge to the final piece of the channel- deepening project gives the parties more than six more weeks to work out their differences.

Meanwhile, Gambol President Bob Stein wrote an opinion piece in the local newspaper last week complaining that his project was not being accorded the appropriate attention. He said that although the project would bring jobs to the area and revive a failing ship and boat building industry, the needed backing of the port to push the project forward was "curiously absent."

Port Staff Report on Gambol Project

Bob Stein Opinion Piece

-- The Cunningham Report