Ports along Newark Bay are going electric.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have secured roughly $344 million in federal funding to electrify infrastructure throughout its port system — one of the biggest in the country — as part of a larger goal of achieving net-zero emissions at the ports by 2050.
The agency on Wednesday said it will use the funding to install several new diesel-alternative systems that would reduce the amount of pollution coming from the ports.
The money will go toward zero-emission cargo-handling equipment that’s either battery electric- or hydrogen-powered, as well as shore power for loading boats at the ports, which would electrically charge docked cargo ships instead of having them run their diesel engines. The investment will also create a voucher incentive program supporting the transition to zero-emission trucks at the ports, according to Beth Rooney, the authority’s port director.
The remainder of the funding will be used to train port workers to operate the new electric technology. A spokesperson for the Port Authority did not immediately respond to comment on the timeline for implementation.
“When we talk about the transition to zero-emission cargo-handling equipment, we are talking about the significant impact on reducing the port’s emissions,” Rooney said at a news conference on Wednesday morning.
The electrification project will reduce 67,000 short tons of carbon dioxide every year, which the authority said is equivalent to removing more than 14,000 gasoline-powered vehicles in one year.
The Port Authority currently moves 8 million cargo containers a year in its port system, almost all of which operate on diesel, Rooney said.
Environmental advocates have for years called for climate-friendly changes to how the ports operate, citing adverse impacts to the health of residents in port areas like the South Ward of Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey. They hailed the news of the federal investment.
“I’m excited about [the funding] because the South Ward is the backyard to the port,” Kim Gaddy, cofounder of the group South Ward Environmental Alliance, told Gothamist. “We have some of the dirtiest trucks coming in and out of our port and staying on local roads, and so the funding will definitely help to ensure electrification.”
Gaddy said she’s been fighting for more than 20 years for reductions in the port’s diesel pollution, often calling her neighborhood a “diesel death zone.” She said she has three asthmatic children.
Particulate matter, a pollutant emitted from diesel trucks that idles on local roads, can contribute to asthma and increase the frequency of asthma attacks, according to environmental experts. A study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that 1 in 4 Newark children had asthma, three times the state average.
