Our Concerns

The map on the right was created by the California Environmental Protection Agency to show the very high cancer risks associated with people living near the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. This area of California has the worst air quality in the United States and this report documents that the ports are the largest air polluter. Neighbors of the port are 10 times more like to have cancer than people living 20 miles away from the ports.

The following chart highlights what percentage of air pollution is created by each segment of the port industry operating inside the port . Ships contribute 73% of the total port air pollution. Port operators like to mention how they have turned their crane operations from diesel power to electrical power so they can appear to be addressing the serious air pollution problem, yet without addressing the ship’s pollution, port operators are, in effect, not addressing the real issue.

California has realized their port air pollution is a major problem. They have installed 4 monitors around the Port of Los Angeles and 2 air monitors around the Port of Long Beach next to neighborhoods surrounding the port operations. Air quality results are available each day on the port’s website so residents can stay informed.

The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles handle more containers than any other ports in the nation.  Below is the ship data from these two ports.

 The Port of Charleston is also a major port. In 2006, the South Carolina State Ports Authority had 1956 vessel calls, most of which were containerships. You can see how container ships rate in diesel particulate emissions compared to other ship types,

What is South Carolina and Charleston County doing about monitoring our port air pollution?  

Below is the map of where DHEC has air monitors in the Lowcountry. The red circles on the map below represent the South Carolina State Port Authority’s 4 terminals. The largest red circle is the Wando Terminal  - which handles more ships each year than the other 3 terminals combined.

Please note there are no air monitors anywhere close to this major air pollution source.

What we don’t know can indeed hurt us and our children.  

Today, our Charleston port air pollution is not being monitored. Our port has resisted doing serious air monitoring and DHEC has failed to step in and do proper monitoring.

What other port cities are finding out about their air pollution

Port Cities Work to Rid Air of Pollutants
The News Hour with Jim Leher
"With their sea air and ocean breezes, coastal communities are often seen as healthy alternatives to smoggy cities. … But in towns with big ports, breathing can be risky. Ports spew out a toxic brew of contaminants, making them major sources of air pollution."

People's World Weekly, September 1, 2007
"Truck diesel pollution is five times higher in West Oakland, near the port, than in other parts of the county, and one in five youngsters has asthma."

Port of Seattle- February 16, 2007
"It makes sense for the Port to focus on air emissions from maritime and maritime related sources, water quality and habitat for marine life," said Commissioner Bob Edwards. "That's where the operations of the Port, its customers and its tenants have the greatest impact on our quality of life here in the Pacific Northwest."

MarineLink.com, July 25, 2006
With 3,000 ship calls a year and $100 million in goods moving through the port annually, the Port of Los Angeles is a major economic center for the nation and one of the nation’s most important ports. It is in the middle of an air quality monitoring program that will measure ambient levels of diesel particulate matter in the vicinity of the port and adjacent communities, measure the effect of efforts to cut diesel emissions and validate health risk assessments.

Seattle- From Seattle Times February 23, 2006
"With only a few exceptions, the most unhealthful air in the state is found in neighborhoods near ports throughout Western Washington, according to a Seattle Times analysis of an Environmental Protection Agency study of cancer-causing air pollution, released publicly Wednesday."
"However, nearly all of the tracts with the worst air are clustered around ports: the Port of Seattle, the Port of Tacoma, the Port of Longview, the Port of Vancouver and the refineries at Anacortes."

Los Angeles January 2006
“With the steady increase in port activity and associated goods movement, it is imperative that the AQMD take all feasible measures to protect public health from the ports, which are the No. 1 fixed source of air pollution in this region,” said William Burke, Ed.D., Governing Board Chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.