(The following article by Felix Sanchez was posted on the Long Beach Press Telegram website on August 30.)
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Port of Long Beach harbor commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a contract with Pacific Harbor Line that calls for the replacement of aging, pollution-spewing locomotives with clean-diesel and alternative-fuel models.
Once in place, the new fleet of 18 locomotives should reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 53 percent and particulate matter by 45 percent.
The $23 million replacement program will begin almost immediately, and will also affect the Port of Los Angeles, which shares the intricate rail-yard system in the massive port complex that uses the locomotives to switch railroad cars carrying cargo containers and link them together.
The trains are then pulled out of the ports by other locomotives through the Alameda Corridor or onto the BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad.
The agreement to replace the locomotives is part of a 10-year extension of an agreement between the ports and Pacific Harbor Line, a private company that provides railroad switching locomotives and service within the ports complex.
Locomotives being replaced are in some cases more than 50 years old and run on diesel.
With the more efficient locomotives, nitrogen oxide emissions will be reduced by 163 tons a year, and particulate matter by three tons a year.
Each port will pay up to $5 million toward the $23 million it will cost to replace the locomotive fleet. A $3.2 million grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District will also be used while the remainder will be paid by Pacific Harbor.
The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners will vote on approval of the agreement later this week.