Comprehensive Environmental Management
Massachusetts Port Authority - "Massport Sustainable Design Standards and Guidelines" - (Click here for full report)
In order to consistently integrate sustainable technologies and practices into all of its capital projects, the Massachusetts Port Authority developed and implemented Sustainable Design Standards and Guidelines (SDSG). The SDSG is a certification program that consists of a set of standards and guidelines required to be used by all port authority planners, architects and engineers. A goal of the program was to create standards and guidelines for non-building projects. Currently in use at six port projects, the SDSG was hailed by one of this year's judges for creating "ownership in its development and legacy in its simplicity."
Honorable Mention
Port of Vancouver U.S.A. - "Tenant Environmental Management Program" - (Click here for full report)
Designed to minimize the impact of the Port of Vancouver U.S.A.'s 50 tenants, the Tenant Environmental Management Program manages tenants' environmental needs before the port enters into a lease and follows through to the end of the lease term. The port pre-screens tenants and their environmental needs, periodically audits environmental protection practices, rewards tenants for environmental performance and shares best practices among tenants.
Mitigation
Alabama State Port Authority - "Choctaw Point Terminals Mitigation Project" - (Click here for full report)
In constructing its Choctaw Point terminals complex, the Alabama State Port Authority went beyond mitigation requirements by the Army Corps of Engineers and created a public park with access to Mobile Bay. The Corps required that the port compensate for the loss of wetlands, shallow-water bottoms and deep-water bottoms by converting uplands to tidal fringe marsh. In addition, the public park the port created has hiking and biking trails, kayak launch sites and picnic facilities. One judge praised this "major environmental mitigation effort" for its "creative and practical habitat valuation procedure and creative beneficial use of soils and dredge material."
Stakeholder Awareness, Education and Involvement
South Carolina State Ports Authority - "The Port's Pledge for Growth" - (Click here for full report)
To communicate the South Carolina State Ports Authority's commitment to environmental stewardship to a broad audience, the port developed its Pledge for Growth campaign. The campaign website provides detailed information about the port's environmental initiatives related to reducing diesel emissions, providing aerial surveys for endangered right whales, restoring tidal marsh and preserving environmentally sensitive lands.
