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SPA approves air quality testing at all terminals
By Dan McCue
Staff Writer
The Port of Charleston is the first port in the Southeast to implement air emission testing at its terminals in an effort to proactively reduce pollution at its facilities.
The testing regime, which was unanimously endorsed by the S.C. State Ports Authority board on April 17, is a voluntary effort to be undertaken in partnership with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The action came as the SPA awaited a final decision on a proposed new terminal at the former Charleston Navy base. That decision was still pending as of press time.
Under the Memorandum of Agreement signed by the SPA and DHEC, the two entities will evaluate, and ultimately implement, means to cut diesel emissions at the port’s existing and future facilities.
Moffatt & Nichol, a Long Beach, Calif.-based engineering firm that has completed similar air quality studies for ports and municipalities up and down the West Coast, was awarded a $150,000 contract to undertake the project and is expected to complete its work in about 11¼2 years.
The first stage of the project will identify all of the diesel engines in excess of 25 horsepower that are used in connection with terminal operations in Charleston, measure their emissions and determine how long they run and why.
The second stage of the project will include coming up with ways to reduce those emissions. In the meantime, the board expects Moffatt & Nichol’s work to establish a baseline for acceptable terminal emissions well in advance of construction of the first phase of the planned terminal.
Bernard S. Groseclose Jr., SPA president and CEO, said the agreement between the authority and DHEC shows that striving for a cleaner environment and fostering economic development are compatible activities.
“This agreement provides dual benefits to the Charleston community,” he said. “It preserves quality of life by studying and enacting ways to cut port-related air emissions. At the same time, it generates more high-paying jobs as business expands at the Port of Charleston.”
In addition to conducting the study, the agreement also calls for DHEC to designate an individual to coordinate air quality consultation at the port and to develop and conduct training for SPA personnel on an annual basis.
DHEC commissioner C. Earl Hunter said by embracing emissions testing the SPA is “stepping up to the plate to improve air quality in the Charleston region.”
The only other ports on the East Coast to undergo such a rigorous analysis of emissions at their terminals are the Massachusetts Port Authority, the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey and the Virginia Ports Authority.
For its part, the SPA has agreed to purchase, install and maintain a new particulate matter monitoring station in Charleston, to be owned and operated by DHEC, to evaluate the use of cleaner fuels, such as biodiesel and ultra-low sulfur diesel at its terminals, to evaluate the future use of shore-to-ship electric power for ships at berth and to replace existing and aging equipment with cleaner running models.
The SPA is already in the process of replacing four diesel-electric container cranes with four all-electric models at the Wando Welch and North Charleston terminals.
Over the last five years, the SPA has retired 10 yard trucks, four container cranes, three rubber-tired gantries, two gantry cranes and seven full-container handlers and replaced them with cleaner running technology, said Byron Miller, spokesman for the SPA.
In other action at its most recent meeting, the board awarded Three Oaks Construction of Johns Island a contract worth $620,055 to create a 2.5-acre test embankment at the site of the proposed terminal.
The project is intended to confirm engineers’ projections of how much fill along with what other preparatory modifications will be needed to make the entire 100-plus acre site suitable for terminal operations.
Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.
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