Greenhouse gas emissions from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach shot up last year, according to the most-recent “Inventory of Air Emissions” reports — an increase officials largely attributed to pandemic-era supply chain disruptions and cargo congestion outside the port complex.
The ports released separate emissions reports earlier this week.
A record-high of 109 cargo ships awaited entry into the nation’s two busiest ports in January. Massive influxes of cargo in 2020 and 2021 overburdened the LA and Long Beach ports, often forcing vessels to wait weeks on end in the harbor before unloading and moving on to their next destination.
“A large number of vessels, mainly container ships, sat at anchor or loitered during cargo surges,” POLB said in a Tuesday, Oct. 4, news release. “More cargo-handling equipment was used to keep up with the activity, and trucks waited longer in queues as a result of systemwide logistics issues in the Harbor District, across the region, and throughout the nation.”
All of those factors combined, officials at both ports said, created an “unprecedented” situation with little flexibility to mitigate environmental impacts.
“The environmental impact of a congested supply chain was evident last year,” POLA executive director Gene Seroka said in a Thursday, Oct. 6, news release. “Fortunately, industry stakeholders took steps in the fourth quarter to reduce at-anchorage vessels to ease the impact on residents and workers in the San Pedro Bay and throughout the South Coast Air Basin.”
The ports have worked to reduce congestion throughout this year, officials said, and as of Thursday, no container vessels are anchored offshore — a reduction of more than 90% since January.
“Over the past year, private and public stakeholders have been successful in reducing congestion and ships at anchor,” the release said, “which will improve 2022 emissions.”
But still, pollution from the ports increased significantly in 2021, the report said.
At POLA, sulfur oxides emissions increased the most — a staggering 145% increase from 2020, the report said. Those chemicals, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, contribute to vegetation-damaging acid rain and particulate pollution, which can cause serious health problems and haze.
Long Beach’s port, meanwhile, saw a 38% uptick in SOx emissions last year.
Emissions of diesel particulate matter — which the EPA said negatively impacts human health, the environment, global climate change and environmental justice — rose 56% at POLA and 42% at POLB in 2021 compared to the previous year, according to the reports.
Nitrogen oxide — one of the most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and ozone layer depletion — rose 54% at the POLA in 2021, the report said, and 35% in Long Beach. A pound of NOx released into the atmosphere has nearly 300 times the impact on global warming trends than the same amount of carbon dioxide, according to the EPA.
The most-recent numbers on NOx emissions, the report said, put the Los Angeles port behind on its 2023 San Pedro Bay Clean Air Action Plan requirements. The CAAP, enacted by both ports in 2006 and updated since, sets forth pollution reduction strategies and a path toward zero-emissions cargo movement.
NOx emissions are now 15 percentage points behind the CAAP standard — which requires the port to reduce those emissions to 59% below 2005 levels. POLA is still meeting its goal on SOx and diesel particulate matter emissions reductions, though, which are 95% and 84% below 2005 levels, respectively.
“We’re working hard to address these issues and improve results,” Seroka said. “We are now providing incentive funding for zero emission trucks, testing a range of new green technologies and working internationally to decarbonize ocean shipping between Los Angeles and China.”
Long Beach is in a similar situation with the CAAP goals, its report said.
“Overall criteria pollutant emissions are lower in 2021 compared to 2005,” the report said, with diesel pollution down 88% and SOx down 96% compared to the 2005 pre-CAAP levels.
POLB’s NOx emissions, though, also do not meet the reduction goal, with this year’s total emissions reported at 49% below 2005 levels — far off the 59% emission-lowering plan standard.
“Putting it simply, the pandemic created emissions-inducing bottlenecks in the supply chain,” Long Beach harbor commission President Sharon Weissman said in the release. “No one could have foreseen this once-in-a-lifetime event, but we are not discouraged by this temporary impediment, and our goal to be a zero-emissions port remains.”
Both ports have repeatedly acknowledged the role they play in contributing to pollution and have implemented a series of initiatives — aside from the CAAP — aimed at reducing emissions throughout the San Pedro Bay Complex.
POLA and POLB share a joint goal of employing entirely zero-emission equipment by 2030 and a zero-emissions truck fleet by 2035 — and they also spend money on projects in nearby neighborhoods to reduce impacts from their operations.
Long Beach’s recently enacted a Climate Action Plan also includes provisions to reduce diesel heavy-duty truck emissions at the Port of Long Beach by 10% by 2030.
Both ports, meanwhile, recently joined the Shanghai-Los Angeles Green Shipping Corridor — a partnership among a coalition of cities, called c40, looking to combat climate change — to create a the world’s first zero-emissions trans-Pacific trade route.
“The partnership intends to work together to achieve these goals by developing a ‘Green Shipping Corridor Implementation Plan’ by the end of 2022,” said a Long Beach port press release from earlier this year, “that will include deliverables, goals and interim milestones, and roles for participants.”
The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents ocean carriers, along with two other associations, implemented a new ship queuing process aimed at reducing congestion — and air quality — at the ports.
“The process calls for each vessel to be assigned a place in the arrival queue based on their departure time from their last port of call, and requires vessels to wait for an available berth approximately 150 miles off the California coast,” a press release from last year said.
“This process will allow vessels to slow their speed and spread out,” the release added, “in addition to reducing emissions near the coastline.”
The old system, by contrast, allowed container ships to enter the arrival queue based on when they crossed a line 20 nautical miles from the port complex — causing congestion in the breakwater.
“This (new) measure has been instrumental in improving safety,” POLA said, “and reducing emissions from ships in the queue.”