Port of Long Beach Reports Fewer Emissions

Air pollution at the Port of Long Beach, Calif., declined in 2009 for the third consecutive year, and diesel particulate matter has fallen more than 50% since 2005, in part because of the port’s clean truck program, port officials said.

The port’s 2009 emissions inventory, an annual assessment of pollution levels, closely paralleled results reported last month by the Port of Los Angeles.

“Our air quality programs are expanding and delivering better results each year,” Nick Sramek, president of the port’s Board of Harbor Commissioners, said in a statement. “Trucks, trains and ships are running cleaner than ever before.”

Air quality measures such as the clean trucks program, the vessel speed reduction program and shore power for ships are all having a positive effect on air quality, Sramek said.

Although some of the air quality improvement can be attributed to the recession-related 24% drop in cargo volume in 2009, the clean-air gains far outpaced the decline in container traffic, the report said.