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Environment: New York/New Jersey, Tacoma

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The board of commissioners of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has approved the continuation of a program that helps port truckers replace older, higher-polluting vehicles with newer, cleaner burning ones. Bamboo grasses sprouting from giant concrete boxes that stretch the length of two football fields are helping to remove pollutants from the stormwater runoff at the Port of Tacoma’s West Hylebos Log Yard.

New York/New Jersey: Port Authority Board Approves Continuation of Truck Replacement Program

The board of commissioners of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has approved the continuation of a program that helps port truckers replace older, higher-polluting vehicles with newer, cleaner burning ones.

It also approved an additional $2.42 million for the Truck Replacement Program the agency launched in 2010 to provide a financial incentive to truckers toward the purchase of newer vehicles. These funds will help pay for the replacement of approximately 80 trucks with 2007 or older engines. According to the port authority, the newer trucks are projected to result in emission reductions of approximately 42 tons of particulate matter and 708 tons of nitrogen oxides during the lives of the replacement vehicles.

The program approved November 19 is funded by a $2 million federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant, and will cover up to 50 percent of the cost of a new truck – up to a maximum of $25,000 per truck. To be eligible for the program, truckers must regularly call on Port Authority of New York and New Jersey marine terminals and commit to serving the port for at least five years.

Since the program began, the port authority has disbursed all of its federal grant money to replace 429 older trucks with newer models. The original $34.4 million program was a combined $8.6 million in federal grants that covered 25 percent of the replacement truck costs and $25.8 million in funds allocated by the port authority for low-interest loans, if needed, for the remaining 75 percent.

Since its inception, the Truck Replacement Program has resulted in an estimated annual emission reduction of 356 tons of nitrogen oxide and 14 tons of fine particulate matter, which represent roughly 70 and 64 percent reductions, respectively, in both pollutants, according to data cited by the port authority.

Other emission reduction actions undertaken by the port authority at its maritime facilities include investing more than $600 million in environmentally friendly rail facilities at all of its port terminals – including the recently approved rail facility to serve Global Terminal in Jersey City – which are funded primarily through the agency's Cargo Facility Charge. In addition, the agency has provided incentives to modernize cargo-handling equipment and to encourage the use of low-sulfur fuel in ocean-going vessels as well as to attract the cleanest vessels to the port; and initiatives to retrofit port switcher locomotives with ultra-low emitting GenSet engines.

The bistate agency’s recently released 2012 Multi-Facility Emissions Inventory estimates air emissions generated in 2012 by port related sources associated with operations at port authority marine terminals on facilities leased to private tenants. The inventory reports an average 28 percent decrease in tons per year across all criteria air pollutants, when compared to the 2006 baseline emissions inventory, despite an 8.6 percent increase in cargo volume over the same period. It also reports decreases in nitrogen oxide (4 percent, fine particulate matter (11 percent) and sulfur dioxide (29 percent) compared to the 2010 inventory.

Tacoma: Treatment System Exceeds Water Quality Rules

Bamboo grasses sprouting from giant concrete boxes that stretch the length of two football fields are helping to remove pollutants from the stormwater runoff at the Port of Tacoma’s West Hylebos Log Yard.

The plants are a key piece of the biofiltration stormwater treatment system designed and built by the port. The system mimics nature’s filtering processes to remove zinc, copper and other pollutants to improve water quality before it runs into Commencement Bay.

Debarking activities at log yards leach high levels of pollutants and make stormwater management a particular challenge. When the log yard failed to meet Washington State’s water quality standards in 2010, the port analyzed six treatment options. Biofiltration emerged as the most cost-effective solution.

"Biofiltration relies on plants, soil and microbes to remove contaminants from the stormwater runoff," said Anita Fichthorn, the port’s water quality project manager. "It’s traditionally used to control flow in urban environments and is a relatively new stormwater treatment technology."

Biofiltration is not new at the port. The technology was first used in 2010 on smaller scale to treat rainwater flowing off the maintenance shop’s metal roof. The port built 300-gallon downspout treatment boxes based on designs implemented at other ports with remarkable results: up to 99 percent of metals were removed.

The technology, however, was untested in treating stormwater runoff from a log yard.

The $2.7 million system measures 600 feet long by 45 feet wide. Completed last December, it moves stormwater through four cells. Each targets a particular pollutant:

In stage one, pea gravel removes solid pollutants.

In stage two, sand amended with biochar removes fine solids, metals and organic contaminants.

In stages three and four, the bioretention mix of sand and compost is planted with bamboo and other vegetation to remove the remaining pollutants through biological uptake in the plants.

The log yard system cost less than traditional systems that rely on mechanical filtration or chemical treatment. It’s also flexible enough to support other potential uses at the West Hylebos pier.

The project won AAPA’s 2014 Comprehensive Environmental Management award at the Association’s convention earlier this month.

"This treatment system underscores our commitment to doing business in a way that protects the environment," said Jason Jordan, director of environmental programs. "The technology has proven successful at the log yard and could easily be adapted for other applications in the port industry."

 

 

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