Environment: New Orleans, Metro Vancouver
New Orleans: Port Awarded Clean TRIP Grant for Diesel Truck Replacement
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans a $727,000 Clean Diesel grant for the port’s voluntary Clean Truck Replacement Incentive Program, or Clean TRIP.
The grant will assist short-haul and drayage truck owners servicing port cargo terminals and warehouses within the port’s three-parish jurisdiction, enabling them to replace older truck models between 1993 and 2006 with model year 2011 or newer through a cost share program.
The port’s environmental department will develop, lead, implement and manage the program, including developing a fair and transparent application process. The total project cost is $1.5 million, with $700,000 coming from mandatory cost share with eligible truck owners and $110,636 from the port for administrative costs. Local partners in the two-year program include the Regional Planning Commission, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, University of New Orleans and the Environmental Defense Fund.
"This program will enable truck owners to voluntarily invest in cleaner air by replacing older trucks," said Port President and CEO Gary LaGrange, PPM®. "It will also enable us to initiate a community dialogue around air quality and opportunities for improvement."
Port Metro Vancouver: Eight-year Scientific Monitoring Program Shows Continued Ecosystem Health at Roberts Bank
A science-based program to monitor and manage the ecosystem of the Roberts Bank inter-causeway area of Port Metro Vancouver has concluded after eight years of monitoring that the ecosystem has not suffered any significant negative impacts due to the construction of a third berth at the Deltaport container terminal, which began in 2007.
The independent monitoring program, called the Adaptive Management Strategy, was developed by Port Metro Vancouver in consultation with Environment Canada. It included a scientific advisory committee comprised of three scientists appointed to provide independent scientific and technical advice and recommendations to prevent or mitigate any significant negative ecosystem trends attributable to the Deltaport Third Berth Project.
The strategy was designed to look specifically for changes to the nutrient balance in the water and for potential erosion effects, both of which could negatively affect the ecosystem of the area located between the Roberts Bank and Highway 17 causeways in Delta.
"It is very encouraging to see the plan put in place nine years ago has been successful in protecting the ecosystem at Roberts Bank", said Duncan Wilson, Port Metro Vancouver’s Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility. "The Deltaport Third Berth Project was designed to minimize impacts to the environment, and we invested approximately C$25 million to implement more than 150 commitments to protect the environment, of which the Adaptive Management Strategy was one."
The strategy was initiated in 2007 when construction of the Deltaport third berth commenced, and carried through until 2014. Science-based monitoring concluded there was no evidence of significant environmental impacts from the project. One small localized area behind a tugboat basin showed changes in water and sediment quality due to poor drainage. The port authority responded by installing a swale in a berm to increase drainage.
The final report on the strategy, as well as yearly reports since 2007, is available on Port Metro Vancouver’s website. More information can also be found at our Delta Community Office located at 5225A Ladner Trunk Road Ladner, Delta.