STRUGGLING with health and environmental impacts of increased marine shipping in Boston Harbour, massport is seeking US$280 million in federal grants aimed at reducing emissions and expanding electrification at its container and cruise terminals.
The transportation agency - which controls more than three-fourths of maritime shipping in the harbour - told Boston's GBH News that if it wins the competitive grant from the US Environmental and Protection Agency (EPA), it would also spend an additional $70 million from its own budget to decarbonize operations.
This includes providing electric shore power for some ships while they're idling through the offloading process, electric-powered forklifts and trucks, and a solar-panelled rooftop.
Massport submitted the application in the spring and the EPA is expected to announce grant winners later this month, part of $8 billion the federal government is pouring into electrifying and decarbonizing the nation's ports.
'This project is extremely important to us and there is a terrific opportunity here. We are hopeful that the EPA will support our project,' Massport spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan told GBH News.
Numerous studies done by Yale University, the EPA and the World Health Organization have confirmed the link between exposure to diesel emissions near marine ports and poor health outcomes: respiratory illnesses, heart disease and cancer.
An EPA report last September stated that emissions from oceangoing vessels 'have the highest impact on the communities closest to the ports' - neighbourhoods that often are low-income communities of colour.
The report found the EPA needs to do a better job collecting air emission data near the nation's ports. Massport said it has hired a consultant to conduct its first-ever emissions inventory of its marine operations in South Boston but did not specify a timeline.
Local environmental advocates say it is time for policymakers in Massachusetts to pay more attention to the shipping industry here.
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The transportation agency - which controls more than three-fourths of maritime shipping in the harbour - told Boston's GBH News that if it wins the competitive grant from the US Environmental and Protection Agency (EPA), it would also spend an additional $70 million from its own budget to decarbonize operations.
This includes providing electric shore power for some ships while they're idling through the offloading process, electric-powered forklifts and trucks, and a solar-panelled rooftop.
Massport submitted the application in the spring and the EPA is expected to announce grant winners later this month, part of $8 billion the federal government is pouring into electrifying and decarbonizing the nation's ports.
'This project is extremely important to us and there is a terrific opportunity here. We are hopeful that the EPA will support our project,' Massport spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan told GBH News.
Numerous studies done by Yale University, the EPA and the World Health Organization have confirmed the link between exposure to diesel emissions near marine ports and poor health outcomes: respiratory illnesses, heart disease and cancer.
An EPA report last September stated that emissions from oceangoing vessels 'have the highest impact on the communities closest to the ports' - neighbourhoods that often are low-income communities of colour.
The report found the EPA needs to do a better job collecting air emission data near the nation's ports. Massport said it has hired a consultant to conduct its first-ever emissions inventory of its marine operations in South Boston but did not specify a timeline.
Local environmental advocates say it is time for policymakers in Massachusetts to pay more attention to the shipping industry here.
SeaNews Turkey