Clean Air: Los Angeles/Long Beach, Montreal, Oakland, Vancouver

 

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach recently released the final 2017 San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) Update, which sets America’s largest seaports on a path toward zero emissions operations.

The draft 2017 CAAP Update was released in July. This final version of the document incorporates comments and changes and is scheduled to be considered for approval in a joint public meeting of the two ports’ harbor commissions at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 2, at the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor Hotel. The meeting will be broadcast live online at polb.com/webcast and at portoflosangeles.org.

The 2017 CAAP Update document, fact sheet and responses to comments are available on both port websites and cleanairactionplan.org.

The original CAAP and the 2010 update have proven highly effective. Staff from both ports developed the 2017 CAAP Update over the last two years to craft strategies to further reduce air pollution and associated health risks from port-related sources. The ports held more than 70 meetings with industry, regulatory agency, and community stakeholders, hosted three public workshops, and allotted 150 days of formal public comment periods.

 

The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) recently reported that its shore power initiatives are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by some 2,800 tonnes a year.

 

Shore power technologies, also known as cold ironing and Alternative Maritime Power (AMP), enable the connection of ships in port to connect to shore side electricity to power on board services. This enables ships’ diesel generators to be switched off, thereby reducing noise and harmful emissions of particulate matter, nitrogen, sulphur, and carbon oxides.

 

Working closely with the MPA and several industrial partners, Cavotec shore power systems supplied a mobile shore power cable management system, AMPMobile, that has been used to connect a major cruise ship to electrical power since August this year.

 

The unit is towed into position as required, and connects ships to shore power quickly and safely. Montreal is Canada’s second largest port, and the introduction of shore power facilities is part of a wide-ranging redevelopment programme of the port’s cruise terminal. 

 

 

A second Port of Oakland freight-hauler is joining the effort this month to clear the air. Trucking and warehousing specialist Impact Transportation will spend more than $1 million on cleaner cargo-handling equipment. 

 

The company said it’s buying nine new forklifts plus a yard tractor to reduce diesel emissions. The equipment will run on either propane or diesel fuel, Impact said.  The company added that its diesel-powered machines would operate with Tier 4F engines. The engines meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s toughest diesel exhaust restrictions, Impact pointed out.

 

"We comply with all local, state and federal regulations," said Impact Transportation President Ron Cancilla. "But we’re also doing this for the health and safety of our employees, our closest Oakland neighbors and the entire Port community."

 

The company’s equipment upgrades could have a measurable impact on Oakland air quality, Port officials said.  Impact handles more than 100,000 20-foot containers worth of cargo annually at its facility on Port property.

 

Impact becomes the second major freight-hauler at the Port this month to attack diesel emissions. GSC Logistics, another Oakland trucking firm, last week received its first battery-powered truck for a three-year trial.

 

Diesel emissions from Oakland cargo-handling operations have already declined 82 percent since 2005, the Port said. It traced the improvement to the Port’s clean air strategy, which includes equipment upgrades by tenants. The Port said it expects another 16 percent reduction by 2020 with help from freight-haulers and marine terminals.