New data shows air pollution associated with operations at
the Port of Los Angeles is at its lowest level since the port adopted a formal
plan to reduce harmful emissions in 2006.
The port’s 2012 air emissions inventory shows that LA’s
seven years of aggressive clean air strategies have been record-setting. The
results include a 79 percent drop in diesel particulate matter since the start
of pollution reduction efforts.
The emissions inventory also shows that the amount of diesel
particulate emissions related to moving 10,000 20-foot containers through the port
in 2012 was 81 percent lower than the emissions output related to moving the
same number of containers through LA in 2005.
“Every year really does count and our systematic approach
has accelerated our progress,” Los Angeles Harbor Commission President Cindy
Miscikowski said in a statement released by the port. “Much of the credit is
shared by our industry partners who have invested in technology that in some
cases surpass government regulations.”
The port’s air emissions inventory tracks the progress of a
comprehensive suite of clean air measures, requirements and incentives to
reduce harmful emissions from all sources associated with port operations:
ships, trucks, trains, cargo-handling equipment and smaller harbor craft. The
latest findings are based on data from the 2012 calendar year and compared with
data collected annually since the baseline year of 2005.
In addition to exceeding the port’s 2014 goal for diesel particulates,
the latest data shows a record plunge in emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and
sulfur oxides (SOx), which have fallen 56 percent and 88 percent respectively
since 2005.
The results exceed the port’s 2014 goal for NOx and put the
port within striking distance of its goal to cut SOx emissions 93 percent by
2014. Both NOx and SOx are key components of smog.
For SOx alone, 2012 marked the greatest reduction in a
single year since 2005, according to port Executive Director Geraldine Knatz.
“This past year, SOx emissions were cut in half,” she said.
“That doesn’t happen without teamwork, which shows how far we’ve come and what
ports, ocean carriers, regulatory agencies and others can do together.”
The SOx findings are especially significant to the port because
they reflect major progress in tackling vessel emissions. Ships remain the
biggest generators of port-related air pollution and they pose the greatest
challenge because they are a mobile source regulated by international
convention.
The Port of LA’s full 2012 air emissions inventory report
can be read at http://www.portoflosangeles.org/pdf/2012_Air_Emissions_Inventory.pdf.
