| Port of Long Beach: Stepping It Up |
| Featured Spotlights | |||
| Written by Ashley McGown | |||
| Thursday, 31 December 2009 | |||
 With eco-friendly programs and construction, this team is becoming more sustainable.
The state of California has been a prominent leader in the green realm throughout the last decade and beyond, setting the pace for many aspects of the sustainability movement within the US. This is apparent from a general standpoint, and the work at Port of Long Beach makes it clear that the green movement is something many individual organizations also take seriously on a local level.  Doug Sereno, program management director The self-assessment ultimately led to the development and introduction of the Green Port Policy, a comprehensive strategy that outlines how the port’s team can manage business while remaining conscious of the impact activities have on the surrounding environment and communities. The program was taken to the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners and approved shortly thereafter, and Sereno said it has been Port of Long Beach’s guidebook since that time. Port of Long Beach is technically a department of the City of Long Beach, but its operating structure isn’t quite that simple. “We’re a Tidelands Trust organization,” Sereno said, explaining that the Tidelands Trust Act was enacted by the state to preserve certain coastal areas for the people of California. “The state delegates responsibility to certain cities and entities, so as part of that, we have to operate and maintain Port of Long Beach on behalf of the citizens of California,” he added. “However, 10% of our net income may be transferred to the City of Long Beach as compensation for being the port’s host, and the port is governed by a five-member board whose members are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council.” Rolling out programs One of the most prominent ideas implemented at Port of Long Beach in recent years is the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP). The port adopted the program in November 2006 in an effort to curb air pollution from trucks, ships, locomotives, and other equipment. National, state, and local regulatory agencies were involved in crafting the plan, which set forward a specific goal: reduce air pollution by at least 45% in five years. Sereno said he’s very happy with the progress the port has seen thus far. “We’re in our third year right now, and we’ve achieved roughly 80% of the reductions from trucks that we’re supposed to go after, so we’re ahead of schedule,” he said. In addition to CAAP, Port of Long Beach introduced a vessel speed-reduction program, which, through incentives, motivates shippers to reduce their speed to no more than 12 knots within 20 miles of the harbor. When shippers adhere to these guidelines, air emissions are reduced significantly. According to Sereno, Port of Long Beach has achieved more than 95% compliance from shippers. “We give the shippers a rebate on their dockage fees for complying with the guidelines,” Sereno explained, adding that a number of the companies have reinvested the incentive capital into the community. “Some of them are giving the money to nonprofit organizations or schools in the community, which is a wonderful thing. It’s a winning situation for everyone.” More to come Port of Long Beach is also investing in its physical infrastructure. The organization recently completed work on a new joint command and control center, which houses security and various law enforcement agencies, such as the US Coast Guard, Border Patrol, and Customs, to name a few. The building was finished in January 2009 and is LEED certified at the Silver level thanks to its ability to reduce energy and water use while recycling materials. “Right now, we’re working on the redevelopment of several of our shipping terminals, renovating the maintenance, operations, shops, and administrative buildings, and we set forth requirements that all of those buildings have to be certified at the Silver level as well,” Sereno said. Additionally, the organization is drawing up an investment plan to construct a new $185 million administrative/ maintenance headquarters complex, and according to Sereno, that building should be LEED certified at the Platinum level. “Achieving Silver certification is great, but in California, it’s fairly standard,” he said. “You can achieve Silver certification by going after the low-hanging points, but moving up to Gold or Platinum requires much more difficult improvements and enhancements, especially in terms of water and energy conservation and reusable materials. We spent a lot of time looking for sizeable energy conservation points.” Sereno said there’s also a green power component he and his team are chasing after, which involves the installation of solar panels on the building’s roof. They also plan to store storm water on-site and use it for landscaping and irrigation. “Whenever we introduce a new program or lay out a plan for a new building, we try to look at how it can help us become more sustainable,” Sereno said. “We’ve made a large commitment to doing that, using a multi-prong approach, and we’ve seen a tremendously positive response from the community.” |
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