Predates the latest emissions standards
As an economic engine, the Port of New York and New Jersey is a turbocharged V-8, supporting 270,000 jobs and $36 billion in annual economic activity for the shipping, trucking, warehousing and other industries in the bi-state region.
But like any big engine — especially one that predates the latest emissions standards — the port spews diesel fumes and other pollutants.
In response, officials at a town hall meeting in Newark earlier this week on the port’s future called for an approach that takes into account the health of people in surrounding neighborhoods. “We don’t want the port to grow at our expense,” Kim Gaddy, a member of the Newark Environmental Commission, told a crowd of about 400 members of the local port community.
Gaddy said one in four children in Newark suffered from respiratory problems including asthma, which she blamed in part on the 7,000 trips per day that port trucks take through Newark’s Ironbound section and South Ward.
Gaddy sits on the task force’s government outreach committee.
Port Authority Port Commerce Director Richard Larabee assured local officials and environmentalists that the port community shared their concerns, noting that the Port Authority had set up “a very aggressive” truck replacement program to curb diesel emissions, and that low-sulfur fuels were making ships’ engines run cleaner.