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Port Pollution Addressed Through Innovation

Ports are a major source of pollution, not only from the ships entering and leaving the harbor, but also from the numerous vehicles that service the port and handle the cargo coming in and going out. The latest ship designs can handle over ten thousand containers and that will often translate into an equal number of trucks needed to haul all of the containers away. Moving some of that load onto rail cars is but one of the many ways that port managers are employing to cut down on air pollution. The need for such reductions is becoming ever more apparent. Until now, few ports were obliged to meet air quality standards, but that has begun to change, spurring new efforts to cut back on the emissions spewing from these vital transit centers. Southern California is notorious for its smog and has waged a long and costly battle against it. The Los Angeles – Long Beach port complex is the largest single source of air pollution in the region and is now a target for reductions. The amount of cargo handled by this port complex has tripled in the last decade with a corresponding increase in emissions. Higher standards for… read more »