Since 2007, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority has been conducting self-evaluations every year through the Green Marine report. In addition to the self-critique, every-other-year the authority is visited by an outside reviewer to deliberate and settle on scores - scores that have been favorable.
"Green Marine is a voluntary environmental certification program for the maritime industry," says Jeff Udd, Director of Government and Environmental Affairs with the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. "It's trying to push the maritime industry to go as far as they can on the environmental side... beyond regulations." The scoring works on a 1-5 scale, with 5 being the best score possible. Duluth Seaway Port Authority received a 3.38 on the latest report.
Over time, expectations have changed, and so too has the scale. "What maybe qualified as a level 3 two years ago isn't a level 3 anymore because you're always adding new requirements," says Udd. Although emissions haven't necessarily changed at the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, the amount of work being done at the same carbon emission level does show a ratio improvement. "We've gone from over 5 pounds of CO2 per freight ton moved all the way down to less than three and a half."
Green Marine is voluntary and the Duluth Seaway Port Authority has been involved with it since its inception. "It's the right thing to do," says Udd. "Our goal, as a terminal operator, as a port authority, is to try to get to zero emissions at some point in the not-too-distant future."
More information about the environmental work being done by the Duluth Seaway Port Authority can be found on their website.
You can hear Green Visions at 8:20am every Wednesday on Northland Morning.
