11:15am | Efforts to clean up local air quality are paying off, according to the Port of Long Beach and its recently-released report. The reports shows that in 2009, air pollution fell for the third straight year and some key pollutants saw declines of up to 50-percent.
Calculating air quality is always a tricky science, and can be highly controversial when the Port is producing its own study and is a known source of air pollution in the region. But the study is produced using techniques approved by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Air Quality Management District (AQMD), according to Port spokesperson John Pope.
The numbers are measured not by monitoring the air, but by calculating the known emissions of certain types of equipment that are used at the Port. The process is vetted by CARB before the report is released, says Pope.
Some of the improvements in air quality can also be attributed to a slow traffic year in 2009, and therefore less frequent use of machines. But the report indicates that air quality improvements outpaced the drop in traffic.
Compared to the year 2005 (one of the busiest in Port history), shipping was down by 24-percent, but diesel particulate matter was reduced by 52-percent. Harmful sulfur oxides fell 46-percent.
“This is great news for the Long Beach community and the entire region,” said Nick Sramek, President of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners in a statement. “Our air quality programs are expanding and delivering better results each year. Trucks, trains and ships are running cleaner than ever before.”
The Port credited its Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) for the pollution reductions, including the use of more efficient trucks, machines and watercraft.
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Correction: This article originally stated that the measuring technique is aligned with CARB and Natural Resources Defense Council best practices. Instead of the NRDC, the article should have read AQMD. Thank you.