The long-running debate over whether to build a $50 million shipyard at the Port of Los Angeles shifted this morning [Tuesday] to the City Council, even though the proposal was previously rejected by the harbor commission.

After nearly an hour of debate and testimony from more than 20 speakers, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously agreed to keep reviewing a plan by Long Beach-based Gambol Industries to open a shipbuilding and repair facility on the site of the shuttered Southwest Marine slips at Terminal Island.

At stake … is how to best store massive amounts of dirt dug from the ongoing Main Channel deepening project, including about 160,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil. … The International Longshore and Warehouse Union warned that delays to the dredging project could affect dockworker jobs.

From the Contra Costa Times