Study: Oakland port pollution drops

   The Port of Oakland said a study by the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Berkeley found a 50 percent decline in diesel particulate matter emissions from drayage trucks and a 40 percent decline in nitrogen oxide emissions in the port area following implementation of the clean trucks component of the port’s comprehensive truck management program.
   The UC Berkeley study measured ambient conditions directly above 7th Street in a port area where there is concentrated truck traffic. Air samples were taken in November 2009 and then again in June 2010 after the clean truck program was implemented.
   Starting in January 2010, drayage trucks with engine year models between 1994 and 2003 were required to be retrofitted with a diesel particulate filter to enter the Port of Oakland’s maritime facilities. California’s Air Resources Board said the filters reduce a truck’s diesel emissions by at least 85 percent.