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At MPA’s terminals, the movement of goods involves various kinds
of diesel-powered vehicles and equipment, such as ocean-going
vessels, harbor craft, cargo handling equipment, locomotives,
and trucks. All of these are sources of air emissions.
Below is a list of air emission initiatives by MPA.
Terminal
Velocity
Terminal
velocity refers to the speed at which trucks and other forms of
transportation used for
goods
movement enter and exit port terminals. Velocity is an
important consideration because
the quicker a
truck can be processed at the terminal gates, the less time a
truck spends idling or
moving about
a terminal emitting air pollutants.
Over the last
five years, MPA has seen a doubling of cargo transactions at its
Seagirt Marine Terminal. This increased transactions could have
negatively impacted terminal velocity if MPA had not taken steps
to make physical and operational improvements to the gates.
Most recent improvements occurred in the Fall of 2006 with an
improvement to the truck check-in/check-out system. As a
result, MPA has been able to maintain terminal velocity of
approximately 55 minutes for a “double move” (drop-off and
pick-up of goods) despite the increase in transactions. Similar
gate improvements are being made at MPA’s Dundalk Marine
Terminal.
Use of Ultra
Low Sulfur Diesel and Biodiesel
In the Fall of
2006, the State of Maryland required MPA and other state
agencies to begin using a blend of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD)
fuel and bio-diesel to power state-owned diesel equipment and
vehicles. A benefit of ULSD include significantly reduced
sulfur content—from the federally-mandated 500 parts per million
for non-road vehicles and equipment to 15 parts per
million—which leads to lower sulfur dioxide emissions. ULSD
also enables diesel engines to be fitted or retrofitted with
emission reduction technologies.
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