Page 14 - Port of Baltimore Sept/Oct 2011

[12] The Port of Baltimore ■ September/October 2011 To subscribe or renew, visitwww.marylandports.com
Environmental Stewardship at the Port of Baltimore > > > GreenPort
BY NANCY MENEFEE JACKSON
COURTESY OF MARYLAND PORT ADMINISTRATION
relationship with the environment.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment
and one towards which the MPA has been
working for several years,” said MPA Deputy
Executive Director M. Kathleen Broadwater.
“Being ISO certified demonstrates our
commitment to the environment. It is a
level of achievement that is difficult to
obtain and one that reflects positively
on our port. I congratulate our entire
environmental team for their dedication
and hard work in making this happen.”
Capt. Brian C. Lanasa, Master, Port
Endeavor, for the MPA, added, “As MPA
employees, we have done a lot of work
leading up to ISO certification, such as
providing input about working conditions
and situations to help formulate new
policies and procedures. We have also
done a lot of work to help implement
these policies and procedures.”
But the ISO certification wasn’t
exactly the Port’s original goal.
“The Maryland Port Administration’s
journey began in 2006, when as an
organization we wanted to make
environmental compliance more systemic
and integrated into day-to-day activities,”
said Barbara McMahon, MPA Manager,
Safety, Environment & Risk Management.
“We thought developing and implementing
an environmental management system
would be the best step.”
With help from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and the American
Association of Port Authorities, which
had a training program to help ports
integrate an EMS business model, the
MPA began to formulate a plan.
It was a considerable challenge: the
MPA includes six public marine terminals,
30 private terminals and 45 miles of
shoreline. It handles a wide variety of bulk
and containerized cargo and enjoys an
international reputation for Roll-On/Roll-Off
cargo, importing and exporting everything
from compact cars to colossal construction
equipment. The MPA maintains 73
buildings, 200 miles of infrastructure,
dredged material facilities, and a fleet of
more than 325 vehicles of all types, as
well as a crane maintenance division.
A Core Team, established in 2006,
included a cross-section of MPA employees
tasked with developing a system that
could effectively address any existing
environmental issues and find a way
to make lasting improvements. The
Core Team, which has the full support
of the MPA Executive Director, reported
to the Environmental Compliance
Steering Committee, which is comprised
of senior executives, including the
Deputy Executive Director.
“It requires upper management
CERTIFIED GREEN!
ISO Achievement for MPA
During a recent celebration, the
Maryland Port Administration
(MPA) recognized its employees for
receiving ISO 14001:2004 Environmental
Management System (EMS) certification,
an achievement that was more than
five years in the making. The ISO party
took place in the Fleet Building — and
you can bet they recycled afterward!
Earlier in the summer, the Port of
Baltimore had received the ISO certification
of registration, an international standard for
environmental management that recognizes
a commitment to compliance with
environmental regulations and continued
improvement in environmental practices.
ISO 14001:2004 provides the framework
for a holistic, strategic approach to an
organization’s policy, plans and actions.
It changes the way an organization —
and everyone in it — thinks about their
Maryland Port Administration Executive Director James J. White, center, joined MPA employees to
celebrate the important milestone of receiving ISO 14001:2004 EMS certification.