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Marine Terminals' Economic Value

By Alison St John / Reporter,  KPBS Public Broadcasting
Published August 20, 2008 at 11:54 AM PDT
This story was published more than 16 years ago.

A study of San Diego’s two Marine Terminals estimates almost 20 thousand jobs in the region depend on cargo operations at National City and Tenth Avenue. The report examines how an Initiative on th

Marine Terminals' Economic Value

 A study of San Diego’s two Marine Terminals estimates almost 20 thousand jobs in the region depend  on cargo operations at National City and Tenth Avenue.

The report examines how an Initiative on the November ballot could affect those jobs. 

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KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Developers  propose to put a second story over the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal to create new bay front real estate. They want voters to decide on the project in November.

Erik Bruvald is with San Diego’s Institute for Policy Research , which did the study.  He says the Marine Terminals aren’t in the public eye, but they contribute more to the San Diego economy than other more visible commercial activities.

Bruvald :  It would take four and a half Super Bowls every year, or hosting a U.S. Open every month to equal the impact of the two marine terminals.

Bruvald says  the plan to “double decker” the Tenth Avenue Terminal  would threaten 800  well paid dock jobs at the terminal , and thousands more jobs that depend on the cargo passing through.

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Carolyn Chase, with the development partnership backing t he plan , dismisses these fears.

Chase : There’s nothing in the Initiative that gets rid of marine activity, the deck is stepped is stepped back so that when ships pull up there is a place to unload. 

Chase  argues it is technically feasible to build a 40 foot high deck over the terminal that wont affect cargo operations.

Alison St John KPBS news.

Alison St John
Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.
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