Page 14 - Port of Baltimore Magazine March/April 2011

[14] The Port of Baltimore ■ March/April 2011 To subscribe or renew, visitwww.marylandports.com
MPA’s Environmental Stewardship > > > > GreenPort
The Maryland Port Administration
(MPA) has a clear goal for
stormwater management: To
generate awareness among Port users not
only of their impact on water quality, but
also of opportunities available to improve
the physical and biological integrity of
local waterways. One such opportunity is
to control pollution that is transported by
rainfall runoff or stormwater from marine
terminal activities.
According to Barbara McMahon,
Manager of the MPA’s Safety,
Environmental & Risk Management
(SERM) Department, under its Municipal
Small Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit,
the MPA is developing and implementing
control measures to reduce and eliminate
pollution from rainfall runoff, which flows
through storm drain systems to local
streams and other waterways. These
control measures include: public and
Port user education and involvement,
discharge detection, construction runoff
control, and pollution prevention and good
housekeeping.
As part of the MPA’s environmental
management system (EMS), employees
are encouraged to get involved, make
suggestions for improvement and be
aware of environmental impacts. During a
Environmental Initiatives for the MPA. “This
progress is important to the Port’s role in
helping restore the Chesapeake Bay.”
Clean Diesel Program
Clears The Air
In July 2009, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) awarded
the Port of Baltimore a $3.5 million
grant under the American Recovery &
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to accelerate
the implementation of various EPA-
certified clean diesel technologies for
vehicles and equipment involved in day-
to-day operations. According to the MPA,
some of the more than 85 ARRA sub-
grant awards have gone toward main
engine replacements on harbor craft;
start/stop idle reduction devices fitted to
railroad locomotives; “repowered” forklifts,
terminal tractors and other cargo-handling
equipment; and exhaust retrofits for diesel-
powered Port drayage trucks. (For more
about one of the ARRA-funded projects,
see “Environmental Upgrade for McAllister
Fleet” on page 32.)
The Port of Baltimore Clean Diesel
Program is recognized as an element
of Maryland’s Climate Action Plan. The
Maryland Department of the Environment
provided funding to support the new
technologies, and some individual
projects required matching funds
from private partners, showing how
government and business can couple
economic growth and job creation with
making environmental headway.
The Baltimore/Washington
metropolitan area regularly exceeds
federal standards for ground-level ozone
and fine particulate matter, both of which
are the by-products of burning carbon-
based fuels that power automobiles,
buses, trucks and off-road equipment
such as forklifts, terminal tractors and
aerial lifts. >>>
recent environmental awareness training
class, MPA crane employee Rick Holman
suggested the slogan, “Use Your Brain,
Not the Drain,” as a reminder for all Port
users to protect and improve the health
of the Chesapeake Bay. Rick’s co-workers
enthusiastically endorsed the slogan, which
will be posted throughout the MPA terminals.
Bill Richardson, MPA’s Environmental
Manager, stresses involvement and a
proactive approach to managing storm water
runoff. “The active participation by Port users
and terminal tenants in identifying risks to
water quality and establishing controls to
reduce or eliminate the risk are integral to
our program,” Richardson said. “We have
been fortunate that our Port partners are
engaged and committed to the process.”
This year, emphasis is being placed
on establishing a comprehensive program
to prevent trash from entering the
waterways. The MPA and its partners are
working together on this issue to evaluate,
measure, and control the trash on the
terminals.
“Evaluating the effectiveness of new
stormwater technologies through MPA’s
Environmental Management System will
provide good data as we work toward
meeting the MS4 permit requirements,”
said Richard L. Sheckells, Jr., Chief of
Spills: Use Your Brain,
Not The Drain
Slogan Speaks To Improving Health Of Bay