Air pollution around the Port of Los Angeles improved in 2013, continuing a trend seen over the last eight years, city officials said today.
Harbor officials credited cleaner-burning trucks and speed restrictions on cargo ships for helping reduce emissions last year.
The port’s 2013 Inventory of Air Emissions — which annually tracks pollution from ships, trucks, trains, cargo-handling equipment and other mobile sources — found diesel particulate levels dropped 7 percent in 2013 compared with 2012, which is an 80 percent drop since 2005.
Nitrogen oxide levels were down 7 percent, a 57 percent drop from eight years ago, and sulfur oxides fell 8 percent, contributing to a 90 percent reduction since 2005.
Greenhouse gases were down by 8 percent compared with 2012, and by 23 percent since the adoption of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan in 2006, officials said.
“The Port of Los Angeles has made significant progress on the path to a healthier future and is on track to do more,” Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti said. “We are proud to be an industry leader both internationally and in California, a state known for the world’s highest environmental standards.”
“This port’s commitment to clean air is stronger than ever,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said. “These latest results show that our industry partners, who have been key to our success all along, are voluntarily expanding their sustainable practices to ensure these gains will last.”
