Ports are a major source of pollution, not just in the ships entering and leaving the harbor, but also from the various vehicles that support the port and handle the freight arriving and going out. The latest boat designs can handle over ten thousand containers and that will often translate into an equivalent number of trucks needed to haul all the containers away. Moving some of that load onto rail cars is but one of the numerous ways that port managers are employing to cut down on air pollution. The need for such reductions is getting ever more obvious. Until now, few ports were obliged to meet air-quality standards, but it has begun to change, spurring new initiatives to cut back on the emissions spewing from these critical transit facilities.

Southern California is notorious for its smog and has waged a lengthy and expensive fight against it. The LA Long Beach port complex could be the largest single source of air pollution within the area and is presently a goal for reductions. The amount of freight handled by this port complex has tripled in the past decade with a corresponding increase in emissions. Higher standards for auto emissions can no longer keep pace and without additional regulation of port operations, goals for total reductions of pollutants cannot be met.

The type of bunker fuel used on several boats literally comes from the bottom of the barrel. It’s the liquid obtained from the cracking process used in refining oil, and hence sinks to the base. That makes it heavy in the air that is fouled by particulates. One of the easiest methods to reduce pollution, therefore, will be to require boats to use higher grades of fuel. Some boats now also apply emission control systems related but on a bigger sale to the catalytic converter systems used to curb auto exhaust.

Trucks are also being more heavily regulated. Like ships, they’re being allowed to plug into shore based electricity while they wait in-line to load therefore their engines can be shut off. Most are now also being converted to run on natural-gas, which burns more cleanly.