The Port of Oakland is taking a big step forward in curbing pollution from harbor trucks. That’s the view of two experts discussing the Port’s air quality efforts. Prof. Robert Harley, University of California, Berkeley, says rigs hauling containerized cargo in Oakland are newer and cleaner. Washington Burns, M.D., says this is helping Port neighbors cope with respiratory illness. “This is a big step forward,” says Dr. Burns, director of the West Oakland Asthma Coalition. “The Port said they’d reduce air pollution – and they’re doing it.” The comments follow a study from the University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory released in December. Prof. Harley and fellow researchers discovered “dramatic reductions” in harbor truck pollution. The improvements are linked to a Port of Oakland program that has modernized the truck fleet. The study determined that from 2009 to 2013: Thousands of diesel trucks call at the Port of Oakland annually hauling containerized imports and exports.
  • The mean emission rate from diesel trucks operating at the Port declined 76% for black carbon, a major component of diesel particulate matter and a pollutant linked to global warming.
  • The average emission rate for nitrogen oxides, which leads to the formation of ozone and additional particulate matter, went down 53%.