OPEN HOUSE IN LYNWOOD FEBRUARY 9
PORT OF LOS ANGELES TO HOLD SUSTAINABILITY
Forum is Part of Ongoing Series to Engage and Inform
Communities about Port Environmental Programs
SAN PEDRO, Calif. – January 26, 2017 – The Port of Los Angeles will host its next environmental open house on Thursday, February 9, from 6-8 p.m., in Lynwood, Calif. The quarterly open houses were initiated in Fall 2016 to keep the public updated on the Port’s sustainable freight programs and environmental developments, and to gather input and feedback.
The Port’s Feb. 9 open house will be held at Bateman Hall, located at 11331 Ernestine Avenue in Lynwood. The event is open to the public, but attendees are asked to RSVP in advance at environmental@portla.org.
“The impact of our clean air programs goes beyond the San Pedro Bay, so it’s important to engage communities across the Southland about our emission-reducing programs and what we’re doing to promote sustainability,” said Chris Cannon, Chief Sustainability Officer at the Port of Los Angeles. “The more input we have, the better we can refine our environmental programs to best meet the needs of all our stakeholders.”
The open houses are an initiative of the Port’s Environmental Management Division to further engage with the stakeholders. The Sustainable Freight Advisory Committee (SFAC), a 10-member panel appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, was also formed last year to study and provide input on how to advance sustainable goods movement practices and expand the use of zero and near-zero emission technologies in Los Angeles Harbor.
The first open house was held Oct. 20, 2016 in San Pedro. Updates by Port officials and SFAC members focused on a range of topics, including cleaner trucks, reduced ship emissions, and the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) currently being developed in collaboration with the Port of Long Beach, industry, environmental, and community stakeholders.
More open house events will be scheduled throughout the greater Los Angeles area to continue educating neighboring communities about Port programs that are of regional significance and provide a platform for direct stakeholder engagement and feedback. For more information on emission-reducing projects and upcoming events, visit the Port's sustainable progress website.
Since 2005, the Port has reduced diesel particulate matter (DPM) by 85 percent, oxides of sulfur (SOx) by 97 percent, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) by 52 percent and greenhouse gases by 18 percent. During the same period, container volumes increased 7 percent, as detailed in the Port's latest Air Quality Report Card.
The Port of Los Angeles is America’s premier port and has a strong commitment to developing innovatively strategic and sustainable operations that benefit Southern California’s economy and quality of life. North America’s leading seaport by container volume and cargo value, the Port of Los Angeles facilitated $270 billion in trade during 2015. Port operations and commerce facilitate more than 133,000 jobs (about one in 14) in the City of Los Angeles and 479,000 jobs (or one in 18) in the five-county Southern California region. The San Pedro Bay Ports support nearly 1 million California jobs and 2.8 million nationwide.