Orange County Coastkeeper, a nonprofit focused on maintaining the health of regional watersheds, has sued the federal government in hopes of getting more information about the environmental impacts of a recent container spill at the Port of Long Beach.
Around 75 shipping containers fell from a vessel berthed at the port’s Pier G in September. In the wake of the incident, a unified command consisting of various federal, state and local agencies, was also established to recover the fallen cargo containers — and by the end of the week, more than 50 of the containers had been recovered.
The U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board were charged with leading the investigation into how the spill happened. To date, the results of that investigation have not been made public.
Officials said previously that the containers were filled with “general cargo,” including clothing, footwear, furniture and electronics. But the OC Coastkeeper’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court Central District of California on Jan. 14, aims to compel answers to some additional questions about the environmental impacts of the incident.
Shortly after the incident, according to OC Coastkeeper’s complaint, the organization submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Coast Guard, seeking clarity on the content of the spilled containers, release of pollutants related to the incident, and information pertaining to water quality testing and results after the spill.
More than 50 shipping containers fell from the vessel Mississippi berthed at Pier G at the Port of Long Beach before 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9. No injuries were reported and the cause remains under investigation. A port spokesperson said it was unclear what caused them to fall. (Photo courtesy of Port Pilot Bob Blair)
More than 50 shipping containers fell from the vessel Mississippi berthed at Pier G at the Port of Long Beach on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Photo Provided to SCNG)
More than 50 shipping containers fell from the vessel Mississippi berthed at Pier G at the Port of Long Beach on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Photo Provided to SCNG)
More than 50 shipping containers fell from the vessel Mississippi berthed at Pier G at the Port of Long Beach on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Photo Provided to SCNG)
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More than 50 shipping containers fell from the vessel Mississippi berthed at Pier G at the Port of Long Beach before 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9. No injuries were reported and the cause remains under investigation. A port spokesperson said it was unclear what caused them to fall. (Photo courtesy of Port Pilot Bob Blair)
Under the Freedom of Information Act, government agencies are required to make a determination about each request within 20 business days of receiving it. Agencies aren’t required to release all information responsive to the FOIA request in that time limit, but they are required to determine whether there are records related to the request that can be released publicly.
The Coast Guard did not respond to a request for comment.
The Coast Guard’s determination on OC Coastkeeper’s FOIA request was due on Oct. 3, the complaint said.
“USCG did not even acknowledge Coastkeeper’s FOIA Request until November 7, 2025,” the complaint added, “and only after Coastkeeper’s legal counsel contacted the USCG for a status update.”
As of the lawsuit’s filing date, the Nov. 7 response from the Coast Guard is the most recent update OC Coastkeeper has received about its FOIA request, according to the complaint.
The Coast Guard’s Nov. 7 response acknowledged receipt of the FOIA request and said that it had been provided to a local Coast Guard office on Oct. 9.
“The email further stated that the requested records pertain to an ongoing investigation and that USCG takes the position that it would not complete the FOIA Request until the investigation concluded,” Coastkeeper’s complaint said. “It stated that, upon conclusion of the investigation, USCG would process the FOIA Request, but provided no date for such processing.”
Since then, the complaint said, the Coast Guard has not made a final determination on the FOIA request — and has also not provided records related to the request.
OC Coastkeeper, in the complaint, argued that the Coast Guard violated FOIA, adding that the nonprofit is pursuing the lawsuit to compel the agency to comply with the request.
Timely compliance with FOIA requests, according to a 2015 report from the Office of Government Information Systems, has been a consistent issue for the Coast Guard. That report said the agency’s decentralized FOIA process had created consistent backlogs of requests from 2010 to 2014.
“Failure to respond to requesters in a timely fashion continues to be an issue for the agency,” the OGIS report said. “Although the Coast Guard reported no litigation-related costs from (fiscal year) 2009 to 2014, lack of a response was a factor in six of the seven FOIA lawsuits filed against the Coast Guard since 2009. The Coast Guard also provides FOIA processors that are located in the field with a lengthy and outdated manual.”
In 2020, the Department of Homeland Security — the Coast Guard’s parent agency — released a report detailing its plans to address FOIA backlogs, which “have continued to be a systemic problem at DHS, driven in large part by the continued increases in the number of incoming requests,” the report said.
DHS, in 2022, also announced plans to transition to a new FOIA system with upgraded technology aimed at helping agencies respond to the large volumes of information requests its offices receive faster and with greater accuracy. The Coast Guard’s transition was planned for Sept. 29, 2022, according to DHS’ website.
“USCG has failed to meet these goals and has chosen to employ insufficient staffing to address its FOIA request backlog,” Coastkeeper’s complaint said. “Due to USCG’s chosen insufficient staffing, the backlog of FOIA requests is likely to continue to grow rather than to diminish in the future unless USCG reverses course and assigns more staff to responding to FOIA requests.”
Coastkeeper, meanwhile, is hoping the court will agree that the Coast Guard violated FOIA regulations, and require the agency to provide a determination on the request, conduct a search for responsive records, and provide the nonprofit with any records responsive to its request.
As of Jan. 16, District Judge David Carter has been assigned to the case, according to court records. Summons have also been issued to the Coast Guard, but no further action has been recorded.