By Cecily Burt Oakland Tribune

Posted: 12/18/2009 05:15:26 PM PST     Updated: 12/19/2009 05:04:00 AM PST

Each time the 960-foot-long APL Korea glides into the Port of Oakland to deliver goods from around the globe, the container ship also brings with it something nobody wants: a half-ton of dangerous pollutants that foul the air and cause serious health problems for some West Oakland residents.

But by this time next year, the massive vessel and four others owned by APL will be the first to turn off their diesel generators while berthed in Oakland and instead plug in to clean electrical power.   

APL’s $11 million project will outfit five vessels — half of its Oakland fleet — to accept plug-in electric power and bring compatible electrical systems to two berths at APL’s Global Gateway Central marine terminal, three years ahead of a state law requiring the change. The cost is being partially funded by $4.8 million in grants from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

John Bowe, president of APL Americas, said the project makes sense from a business standpoint and a good neighbor standpoint. Trade and cargo is expected to grow in the years ahead, and this project will “blunt the impact of the growth,” he said.

“We hope others will follow in our footsteps,” Bowe said.

Although most people think exhaust from cars and diesel trucks is the primary source of dangerous emissions, shipping operations are also big contributors. The state is phasing in a number of laws that require significant reductions in diesel emissions from trucks, buses, construction equipment and ships.

By January 2014 the rest of APL’s fleet and all vessels berthed at California’s ports must provide electric alternatives to the current use of diesel engines to power the ships’ systems, known in the industry as “cold-ironing.”

According to the air district, the eventual powering by electricity of all ships calling at the Port of Oakland will cut more than 50,000 pounds of smog-producing nitrogen oxide emissions and 1,500 pounds of dangerous diesel particulate matter every year. Microscopic particulates generated by diesel engines can lodge in the lungs and cause serious health problems such as asthma and other life-threatening diseases, said Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the air district, who commended APL for its plan.

A recent health risk study determined that the residents of West Oakland are exposed to pollution concentrations three times greater than the rest of the Bay Area. The community is surrounded by freeways, rail lines and the Port of Oakland’s marine terminals, which are served daily by thousands of diesel cargo trucks.

Brian Beveridge, co-director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project and a West Oakland resident, was pleased to learn of APL’s plans.

“Ships at the dock produce about 30 percent of our local diesel pollution, and (electric) grid power is the ‘gold standard’ for shore power in our ports. It’s great to see a major player, like APL, taking a leadership position in Oakland to clean up this primary source of port pollution,” Beveridge said. “If other Oakland terminals follow APL’s lead, the residents of my neighborhood will finally see a reduction in the amount of soot we breath in every day.”

The $4.8 million grant consists of $2.8 million available to the air district from the Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program to reduce pollution and health risks from freight movement operations.

The rest is being funded from the Carl Moyer Program, which pays to retrofit heavy duty vehicles, including ships, to reduce particulate emissions.

Reach Cecily Burt at 510-208-6441. Check out her blog at www.ibabuzz.com/westside.