LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Port of Los Angeles announced today that port emissions of nitrogen oxide, a key component of smog, have reached their lowest- ever levels, down 60 percent from 2005 readings.
The results were released as part of the Port of Los Angeles 2017 Inventory of Air Emissions. The port noted that the emission reductions came despite container volume reaching an all-time high of 9.34 million twenty-foot equivalent units in 2017.
"Our port is driving the global economy forward -- and showing the world how we can produce record-breaking growth and protect the environment at the same time,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. "Our progress on reducing emissions to just a fraction of our 2005 levels -- while we ship more cargo than ever -- is proof that our Clean Air Action Plan is working and exceeding expectations.”
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The report also found that the port has now met all of its 2023 Clean Air Action Plan goals, with diesel particulate matter down 86 percent, and sulfur oxides down 98 percent.
"As of this inventory, we've hit all our 2023 targets for tackling the primary pollutants associated with port operations during our busiest year ever,” Harbor Commission President Jaime Lee said. ``This is great news for our port, our industry and our community.”
Port officials said that to reduce emissions it had to reduce the average amount generated to move each container, and it was able to reduce all eight pollutants tracked by the port's emissions inventory, including greenhouse gases, which were down 30 percent per container on average since 2005.
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