Paying for Port Security.

This is in response to "Port Security Should Get Priority Over Road Work" (May 16). We never cease to be amazed by people's willingness to allow the shipping industry to externalize its costs onto the public. The cost of security arises from the business operations of the industry and should be paid by that industry. Anything else distorts the business model and artificially lowers the cost of imported goods, with the inevitable results for U.S. manufacturing businesses and our balance of payments.

The same holds true for the billions of dollars of health care costs externalized onto the public through the thousands of tons of toxic, carcinogenic, diesel emissions generated by the ports every year, for the wear and tear on our transportation infrastructure, the costs of traffic congestion and the costs of blighted communities bordering the ports. Never mind the additional billions they want us to spend to expand the "goods movement" infrastructure.

Taken together, these externalized costs make the shipping industry the most highly subsidized industry in California.

Sen. Alan Lowenthal is on the fight track with his bill to introduce "user taxes," but the numbers we have heard are low by at least a factor of 10.

Only when businesses pay for all of the costs arising from their operations will we have truly rational pricing and business decisions.

Noel Park

President

San Pedro and Peninsula Homeowners' Association