Hueneme first Calif. port to receive special environmental certification

The Green Marine program helps ports, terminal operators and shipping lines reduce their environmental footprint.

   The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles may have bigger and longer-running environmental initiatives, but the Port of Hueneme managed to beat them to the punch this month by becoming the first California seaport to earn certification in the Green Marine program, which helps ports, terminal operators and shipping lines reduce their environmental footprint, the port revealed Monday.
   Each program participant completes Green Marine’s detailed annual self-evaluation, and the results determine the participant’s ranking for each performance indicator on a 1-to-5 scale. Level 1 constitutes the monitoring of regulations, while Level 5 indicates leadership and excellence.
   Individual results are made public every year, and reports are independently verified every other year. Participants in the program, which includes ship owners, ports, Seaway corporations, terminals and shipyards, must demonstrate year-over-year improvement in measurable ways to maintain their Green Marine certification.
   Green Marine’s environmental program assists and provides criteria using 11 performance indicators, including air emissions, prevention of spills and leakages, community impacts, and environmental leadership. The port has said that it received the highest possible scores in the spill prevention, environmental leadership, and community impact categories. Being that Green Marine is completely voluntary, it affirms even further Port of Hueneme’s commitment to staying on the leading edge of environmental stewardship.
   Membership in Green Marine requires that members demonstrate year-over-year meaningful improvements in measurable ways to maintain their Green Marine certification. Green Marine’s metrics and their results are independently verified and released to the public.
   In addition to the Port of Hueneme, current participants in the program include the Alabama State Port Authority, DP World, Kinder Morgan, Northwest Seaport Alliance, Pacific Coast Terminals, Seaspan, Toronto Port Authority and dozens more.