News Details

Terminals Receive Clean-Air Awards

Port rewards cargo-equipment operators for air-quality improvements

June 12, 2006

The Port of Long Beach presented clean-air awards to its seven container terminals on Monday, June 12 for cargo-handling equipment improvements that have resulted in a 50 percent cut in the most harmful air pollutants.

“Cargo-handling equipment is one of our biggest clean-air successes so far at the Port,” said Robert Kanter, the Port’s director of planning and environmental affairs. “And it could not have happened without the commitment and cooperation of our terminal operators.”

The Port and its tenants have reduced emissions from cargo-handling equipment by nearly 600 tons a year of nitrogen oxides (NOx) compared to 2002 levels, which represents an overall reduction of 24 percent. The improvements have also resulted in a 50 percent reduction in diesel particulate matter (PM), a harmful pollutant linked to cancer and respiratory ailments. Diesel PM from cargo equipment emissions has been reduced by a total of more than 70 tons a year from 2002 levels.

Through the multi-agency Diesel Emissions Reduction Program, the Port, EPA and the California Air Resources Board have spent more than $2 million to retrofit more than 600 pieces of cargo-handling equipment with cleaner-burning diesel oxidation catalysts. In addition, the Port’s container terminals have been aggressively upgrading and modernizing their cargo-equipment fleets to run on clean diesel fuel, Kanter said.

“Our container terminals deserve a lot of credit for stepping up to the plate,” Kanter said. “They have quickly accelerated the replacement of older equipment with new, cleaner-burning models.”

The awards were presented Monday, June 12 at the Board of Harbor Commissioners meeting. The Port’s container terminals are: SSAT/Long Beach Terminal; SSA Marine/Matson; California United Terminals; Long Beach Container Terminal; International Transportation Service, Inc.; Pacific Container Terminal; and Total Terminals International.

( Click here for the full press release. )