Long Beach port reduced emissions for seventh-straight year in 2013

Air pollutants emitted by trains, ships, trucks and other diesel-powered machines at the Port of Long Beach, Calif., have declined 82 percent since 2005, according to a recently released air quality study.

Including 2013, the port registered seven straight years of steadily declining air pollution associated with goods movement in the harbor area, the study shows. Compared with emission levels in 2005 — when the port adapted its green port policy — all key air pollutants from port-related sources declined in 2013, with nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides down 54 percent and 90 percent, respectively.

"Air pollution reductions are due to the ongoing shift to bigger ships that carry more cargo more efficiently, as well as newer ships with cleaner engines, increased utilization of on-dock rail and shore power, and regulations requiring ships to use cleaner, lower sulfur fuel in their engines," port officials said in a press release. "Other efforts, like the Clean Trucks Program, have also helped to cut emissions."

The study's results were reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board and South Coast Air Quality Management District. The port conducts an air quality analysis annually to determine its progress in reducing emissions.