Metro Ports, a dock-operating company working out of the Port of Long Beach, announced Thursday that it had purchased a second ultra-low emissions locomotive engine capable of reducing harmful emissions by the year 2036.
The company stated that its $1.2 million investment would reduce air emissions such as nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and reactive organic gas by over 4.5 tons over the next 15 years as it moves cargo up and down the port.
“Through this acquisition, Metro continues to enhance its leadership position in the demonstration and deployment of clean technology equipment,” port Executive Director Mario Cordero said in a press release.
The Southern Coast Air Quality Management District coordinated with Metro Ports to acquire grant funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to purchase the train, according to a press release.
The Port of Long Beach is one of the city’s largest economical engines and is one of the busiest ports in the world. The high volume of goods coming in and out of the port have long presented a challenge for port officials trying to improve air quality and pollution management and the impact they have on nearby neighborhoods.
In 2006, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles passed the Clean Air Action Plan in an effort to reduce their emission footprint on local communities. The plan was updated in 2017, and includes goals such as purchasing a larger fleet of clean-air trucks by 2035. The port hosted it’s yearly State of the Port event Thursday, where Cordero said that this goal could be reached within the next decade.
“Frankly, I have rational optimism we will meet this goal prior to 2035,” he said during Thursday’s event.
Metro Ports’ newest low-emission train is another step in the ongoing clean air plan. The company first bought an experimental low-emissions train several years ago, a spokesperson for the company said. The experimental unit experienced some “operational reliability” issues, however, Metro expects this new train engine to be a much improved unit.