August 20, 2002

Using innovative technology, new regulations and incentive funding, the Southland’s clean air agency is reducing air pollution from the single largest source in the region – the Los Angeles/Long Beach marine port complex.

"The ports are clearly one of the largest sources of air pollution in our region," said Barry Wallerstein, executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. "Cleaning them up is one of the most difficult and complex environmental challenges in the nation."

AQMD took a group of elected officials and journalists on a boat tour of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach today to shed light on environmental solutions in an industrial complex where local, state, national and international jurisdictions meet.

"Cleaning up the ports also is one of the most important tasks facing us as we move toward restoring healthful air quality for all Southern Californians," Wallerstein said. "AQMD is committed to being a leader in this effort."

Since 1998, AQMD and state funds have provided about $23 million to help replace aging, dirty diesel engines in marine vessels and port equipment with new, cleaner models that reduce smog-forming emissions by up to 80 percent.

"I’m pleased to announce today that more than $8 million in additional funding is now expected to be available to continue this crucial effort to clean up air pollution at the ports," Wallerstein said. Funding will come from:

• $2.7 awarded by Congress and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, a group of more than two dozen cities in southeast Los Angeles County;
• $1 million each from CARB to the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, to be matched by $1 million from each port, for a total of $4 million; and
• Up to $1.6 million from the state Carl Moyer program.

Smog-forming and toxic emissions from cargo ships, boats, heavy-duty trucks, trains and other equipment affect the health of the Southland’s 15 million residents.

In total, marine vessels in the ports emit more than 47 tons per day of smog-forming nitrogen oxides. That is more than one-fifth the amount emitted by all of the region’s cars. It is also nearly equal to the total nitrogen oxide emissions from the top 350 emitting industrial facilities in the region, including all power plants and refineries.

As ship traffic increases during the next 20 years, nitrogen oxide emissions from the ports are expected to increase by about 70 percent.

Ships burn some of the dirtiest fuel in the world, containing up to 20,000 parts per million of sulfur. That is 40 times more than the amount allowed in diesel fuel for trucks and other equipment in California.

Nitrogen and sulfur oxides and particulate emissions from the port complex contribute to forming some of the highest ground-level ozone and fine particulate levels in the nation. Prevailing winds carry much of the pollutants to communities in Southern California’s inland valleys.

Ozone damages lung cells and is linked to increased asthma and bronchitis symptoms, as well as decreased lung growth in children. Particulate matter, also known as PM₁₀, is strongly associated with increased hospital and emergency room visits as well as premature deaths.

Toxic emissions from diesel-powered ships, trucks and other equipment in the port area are the primary reason why nearby communities have some of the highest cancers risks in the region due to air pollution.

AQMD’s Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study (MATES II) in 2000 found that air pollution in the port area was responsible for a cancer risk of more than 1 in 1,000. On average, 70 percent of the cancer risk from air pollution is due to diesel particulate emissions, the study found.

Unlike the Southland’s industries, which have effectively been regulated by air pollution control agencies for more than 50 years, ocean-going ship emissions are largely unregulated. Reducing them will require international maritime agreements, since about half of the ships calling on Southland ports are registered in foreign countries.

"It’s going to take the cooperation and initiative of all parties involved – local, state, federal and international agencies as well as community members and industry to clean up air pollution at the ports," Wallerstein said.

AQMD’s jurisdiction at the ports is primarily limited to stationary facilities such as oil storage and loading facilities and petroleum coke export terminals. Nevertheless, AQMD has pursued numerous programs to reduce air pollution at the ports, including:

• Providing more than $25 million in state and AQMD incentive funding to replace older diesel engines with cleaner equipment in tugboats, commercial and sport fishing boats, crew boats and passenger vessels such as the Catalina Express, as well as alternative-fuel yard tractors, cranes and forklifts;
• Strengthening the agency’s Rule 1158 in 1999 by requiring the enclosure of petroleum coke piles. As a result, airborne levels of elemental carbon in the port area, which includes coke, have decreased by 50 percent;
• Conducting an ongoing smoking ship surveillance program that has cited more than 20 ships this year, from cruise ships to container vessels, for excessive smoke under the agency’s Rule 401;
• Conducting special air quality monitoring programs in response to residents’ concerns to assess harmful and toxic air pollution in specific communities;
• Adopting Rule 1631 in 2001, which established a pilot emissions credit program to encourage businesses to reduce emissions from marine vessels; and
• Encouraging the development of new technologies to reduce air pollution at the ports. In the future, barges with zero-emission fuel cell power plants could provide electricity to ships in port, eliminating air pollution from ships that now run their engines to provide power.

"During the past several decades, air quality agencies have dramatically reduced air pollution from our cars, businesses, factories and consumer products," Wallerstein said.

"Now it’s time to focus more of our attention on cleaning up the ports so we can continue to make progress toward clean air for all Southern Californians." To that end, AQMD has endorsed AB2650 proposed by Assembly Member Alan Lowenthal to limit the idling time of diesel trucks working at the ports.

AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

-#-

AQMD Home Page
This page updated: March 01, 2004
URL: http://www.aqmd.gov/news1/portpr.htm