Three-Day Conference Will Examine Environmental Issues Facing Ports and Shipping Industries
BALTIMORE, MD – Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford today delivered a welcome address at the first ever North American GreenPort Congress Conference, which is being held today through May 18 at the Baltimore Convention Center. The international conference is bringing together approximately 150 maritime professionals from around the world to discuss environmental initiatives and developments. After 12 years of being held in various locations around the world, this is the first time the conference is being held in North America.
In addition to the Lt. Governor, other speakers during the conference include Raymond Fitzgerald, chief operating officer of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Solutions; Pete K. Rahn, secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation; Ben Grumbles, secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment; and Patrick Verhoeven, managing director of the International Association of Ports and Harbors.
The GreenPort Congress will include conference sessions on topics such as measuring air emissions, managing dredged sediment, managing climate change at ports, sustainable supply chains, next generation vessels, improved green technologies onboard cruise ships, and the reuse of the brownfields.
The Port of Baltimore has been recognized for its environmental efforts for several years and was recently named a Green Supply Chain partner by Inbound Logistics magazine. The magazine specifically recognized the Port’s work with dray trucks. Since 2012, more than 170 older dray trucks that move cargo at the Port of Baltimore have been replaced with newer and cleaner diesel dray trucks under a Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant through the U.S. Department of the Environment. These upgrades improve overall fuel efficiency and have helped to reduce harmful pollutants both at the Port itself and around nearby communities.
The DERA grant also funds exhaust system upgrades or replacements on up to 26 pieces of cargo-handling equipment, such as forklifts and yard tractors. Automatic stop-start, anti-idling devices are being installed on locomotives that move rail cars that come through the Port.
The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Port Administration (MDOT MPA) also has shown a commitment to the environment over the years in other ways. As part of its Dredge Material Management Program, the MDOT MPA uses sediment dredged from shipping channels leading to the Port of Baltimore to restore wetlands and eroding islands, including Maryland’s Poplar and Hart-Miller islands.
“Maryland is nationally recognized for this program that exemplifies how the environment and commerce support one another,” said Secretary Rahn.
Poplar Island, in the mid-Chesapeake Bay off Talbot County, has been rebuilt to its original 1,150 acres using dredged material. It is today home to a variety of wildlife and waterfowl and is an important nesting ground for terrapins. Hart-Miller Island, in the upper Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of Back River in Baltimore County, has been rebuilt and is a popular recreation site for boaters. Poplar Island, Hart-Miller Island, and the Swan Creek wetlands (near the Cox Creek dredged material placement site) offer critical habitats for migratory birds. Both Poplar and Hart-Miller are listed as important Bird Areas by the National Audubon Society.
At Masonville Cove, on the Patapsco River in Baltimore, the MDOT MPA cleaned and restored a shoreline in 2008 that was severely polluted by decades of industrial activity, removing 27 abandoned vessels and more than 61,000 tons of trash. Today, trails through the Masonville wetlands draw a steady flow of visitors who come to observe the many species of birds and waterfowl that gather there. The Masonville Cove Environmental Education Center that opened in 2009 has about 2,000 students a year come and participate in its hands-on programs. In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service named Masonville Cove its first Urban Wildlife Refuge Partner.
MDOT MPA also works with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to restore the Chesapeake Bay’s native oysters. The MDOT MPA provided funding to lay crushed stone on top of the Patapsco’s riverbed last year between Fort Carroll and the Key Bridge outside Baltimore, which allows the oysters to filter pollutants from the river and create food and habitat for other aquatic wildlife.
The Port of Baltimore was named the fourth fastest-growing port in North America and has been recognized as one of the most efficient container ports in the U.S. for three consecutive years. In 2017, the Port of Baltimore handled a total of 38.4 million tons of cargo, its highest total since 1979. The Port generates approximately 13,650 direct jobs, with over 127,000 jobs linked to port activities, and is responsible for nearly $3 billion in wages and $310 million in state and local revenues.
