COUNCIL OKS EXPANSION AT LAX.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

Over the objections of labor groups and criticism that environmental concerns have not been fully addressed, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a 23-year lease and major expansion of United Airlines' cargo facility.

The council voted 8-4 in favor of the 187,000-square-foot replacement cargo building at Los Angeles International Airport, saying it was satisfied with a limited review of environmental impacts and United's promise to spend about $5 million to reduce them.

Dissenting members said they were concerned the project represented piecemeal development at Los Angeles International Airport without a full environmental impact report being done.

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter of Venice, whose district includes LAX, argued adequate environmental studies of the cargo complex weren't done - two days after casting a deciding vote for the Sunshine Canyon Landfill expansion in Granada Hills, in which the inadequacy of studies also was at the heart of the debate.

``Today's decision is an insult to the communities surrounding LAX, who bear an unfair share of the diesel fuel emissions and traffic congestion associated with the airport,'' Galanter said after the vote.

Sunshine Canyon Landfill and the community uproar over that decision was a different situation, Galanter said. She said the city owns other airports where cargo expansion could occur, while it would have been ``morally unjust'' to force other communities to take L.A.'s trash.

Alan B. Wayne, regional director of public affairs for United Airlines, said the company was elated by the decision and that it will improve working conditions for employees while improving customer service.

``This will give us a better competitive stance,'' Wayne said.

Opponents of the expansion, including the cities of El Segundo and Inglewood, vowed to press ahead in court with a series of lawsuits already filed against Los Angeles World Airports and its Board of Airport Commissioners over their approvals.

``We'll see them in court and make them go back and do the EIR,'' said Michael Wall with the San Francisco law firm Altshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Berzon & Rubin, who's representing parties in Inglewood and Lennox, as well as some labor interest.

El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon, whose city has filed a broader lawsuit claiming LAX is engaging in a deliberate policy of piece-meal growth at the airport to avoid master plan review, said the council made a statement that ``negative impacts don't matter to you.''

``An EIR is right and just and the people of Los Angeles deserve to know what the negative impacts are,'' Gordon said.

The council vote on the cargo expansion was further complicated by a fractious labor argument.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters sided with United, arguing employee worker conditions would be enhanced by the expansion. In longstanding opposition was the Service Employees International Union, which has been trying to organize one of United's subcontractors, Argenbright Security Inc.

``This is a labor dispute with a sister union,'' said Stephen Cooke, assistant general chairman of the machinists and aerospace workers, District Lodge 141, in arguing for the cargo facility.

United has already made a series of concessions, including guaranteeing its subcontractors will comply with the city's ``living wage'' ordinance, but has steadfastly maintained it would be inappropriate, if not illegal, to interfere in organizing efforts.

The result of the labor split, however, was that council members' typical pro-labor sentiments were somewhat neutralized, with alliances shifting until the final vote.

Ultimately it was council President John Ferraro, whose district laps into the San Fernando Valley, who changed his position and concluded an environmental impact report was not required.

Ferraro was joined by council members Hal Bernson, Laura Chick, Nate Holden, Cindy Miscikowski, Nick Pacheco, Rudy Svorinich and Rita Walters.

Opposing the expansion were Galanter, Michael Feuer, Mike Hernandez and Alex Padilla. Absent were Jackie Goldberg, Joel Wachs and Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Mayor Richard Riordan has said he supports the United expansion.