It’s a busy morning at the Port of Hueneme. At one dock, longshoremen are using cranes to unload huge containers of bananas from a cargo ship. On another dock, vehicles are being driven off what’s known as a RORO, a vessel designed so vehicles can be rolled on and rolled off.
But sitting next to each ship are some very unusual barges, ones designed to reduce pollution created by docked vessels.
"Vessels, even when they're at dock, they don't shut down," explained port CEO Kristen Decas. "They need to at least run lights, they need to run their refrigeration so containers can remain cold, and the bananas don't rot. The way we can make that a zero-emission operation is by either plugging in the ships or an emission barge capture system. The (barge) operation actually has a unit that goes all the way to the top of the vessel, over the stack of the ship, and it sucks the emissions out of the vessel, and treats them on that barge."
Decas added that it can be used on all vessel types, like container ships and RORO vessels.
The story is a little more complicated. The port was on a path to go all-electric, so docked ships could turn their diesel engines off and use shore power. This would eliminate massive amounts of air pollution annually. But the December 2023 mega storm that hit Ventura County disrupted those plans. It dropped more than five inches of rain in a matter of hours on Port Hueneme, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to the port's electrical system.
In the short term, the STAX barges are filling some of the gap, reducing pollution. In the long term, some major grants are helping to move the port’s green efforts forward.
"We are on track to be a zero-emission port by 2030," said Decas. "We received a $43 million EPA grant that will replace 95% of our diesel handling equipment with electric equipment. On top of that, we are moving forward with rebuilding our substation and electrifying our entire berths, so vessels will be able to plug in at all areas where they dock. We'll also have the STAX systems here, so if the vessels aren't capable of plugging in, we can make them zero emission using this technology."
But for now, the port is using a combination of shore power and the innovative STAX barges. The barges are about the size of a parking lot and are loaded with special air purification equipment. A giant adjustable pipe system extends up into the air and then connects to the top of the ship's exhaust system to capture emissions. The idea is simple: Picture what it would be like if you could put a device on your car's tailpipe which would filter out more than 90% of pollutants.
"Every vessel, and every vessel class, is different. It comes down to the engine, the make, and the model of a vessel. However, when we're attached to it, we're able to monitor and measure the exhaust that's coming into our system, and how much pollutants are removed," said STAX's Jamie Klein. She said they now have eight of the barges at California ports, with a second one just added to the Port of Hueneme. "To date, STAX has been able to remove 180 tons of pollution in California, and that's increasing as we get more systems online in more ports."
Port officials say they are going above and beyond what they are required to do to control air pollution.
"It's important to recognize that we are a major polluter in the community. This industry is a polluting industry. We account for 3% of global pollution," said Jason Hodge, Vice President of the Oxnard Harbor District. "What we've chosen to do at this port, and in California in general, is to really prioritize our greening, our emissions reductions, and getting to zero emissions by 2030, making us the first port to go to zero emissions."
The go green efforts are especially important to the City of Port Hueneme, whose residents live on the port's doorstep.
"We are right outside of the gate," said Port Hueneme Mayor Martha McQueen-Legohn. "I think the port is doing a great job of moving towards zero emissions in 2030."
Everyone admits it's an ambitious goal. But with $122 million in environmental projects underway, the port is trying to rebound from the December 2023 storms' setbacks.
