Page 23 - Port of Baltimore - Issue 3 - 2024

In 2023, the Port of Baltimore welcomed the new Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, the new Secretary of
Transportation, Paul J. Wiedefeld, and the largest ship to ever call on the Port, the Ever Max. The Port broke cargo records while being a strong steward of the environment and the largest creator of wetlands in Maryland.
Upon taking office, Gov. Wes Moore quickly understood the Port’s power as an economic generator for our state, calling the Port “one of the most vibrant ports on the planet.” His ensuing budget included $165 million for the Howard Street Tunnel Project to allow for double-stack rail, significantly improving rail access from Baltimore to the Midwest,
and $126 million to keep the Port’s channels dredged to allow larger ships to call Port terminals.
U.S. President Joe Biden
spoke of the Port’s environmental achievements during a visit to Baltimore. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spends millions each year dredging to keep shipping channels clear at the Port of Baltimore and
to help bring larger ships with more cargo in and out of Maryland. Now, we’re investing another $84 million from the Infrastructure Law to take the dredged material and restore the Mid-Bay Islands on the Chesapeake, a critical habitat for fish and shellfish and birds, and these islands are central to the fishing and tourist industry. There’s a lot we’re going
to get done. And one of the things about the Infrastructure Law I’m most excited about is we’re doing
all this with workers, with products made in America with union labor.”
Maryland’s Port of Baltimore generates about 20,200 direct jobs and more than 273,600 jobs are linked to Port activities. It ranks first among the nation’s ports for volume of autos and light trucks, roll-on/roll-off heavy farm and construction machinery, imported sugar and imported gypsum; ninth among major U.S. ports for foreign cargo handled; and ninth for total foreign cargo value.
ENVIRONMENT
Improving Efficiency
& Reducing Environmental Impact Throughout 2023, Ports America Chesapeake (PAC) continued work to both densify and electrify the container yard at Seagirt Marine Terminal. The project increased the capacity of the container yard by adding an additional row and increasing the height of container stacks throughout the terminal. Additionally, as part of PAC’s Climate Change Strategic Plan, a full fleet of hybrid electric rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTGs) are currently in operation. Once construction of the electric power distribution has been completed, the RTGs will run on fully electric power.
Since 2008, the Maryland Port Administration (MPA) has received more than $20.5 million from state and federal grants to incentivize the replacement of older diesel-powered equipment used at the Port with more energy-efficient models, preventing more than 5,628 tons of emissions from being released. Under the Port of Baltimore’s Diesel Equipment Upgrade Program, over 400 units of offroad diesel-powered equipment have been replaced, repowered or retrofitted with cleaner engines. This includes drayage trucks, cargo handling equipment, locomotives and harbor craft.
The Port’s Dray Truck Replacement Program, marketed as “Dollars for Drays,” passed the 300-truck milestone in 2023, with 304 dray trucks replaced to date.
Dredged Material Management
An average of more than 4.7 million cubic yards of sediment — an amount that would fill the Ravens Stadium at least twice — is dredged annually from the shipping channels leading to the Port of Baltimore. The challenge then becomes what to do with the sediment.
Solutions include innovative reuse, which repurposes the dredged material for items such as bricks and berms, and beneficial use, which uses the dredged material to help restore Chesapeake Bay islands such as the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Restoration Project (Mid-Bay), which is rebuilding James and Barren Island and will begin receiv- ing dredged material in about 2032.
Innovative Reuse
MPA is working with various companies and manufacturers to develop successful, innovative
reuse methods. Examples include berms using geotubes filled with dredged sediment and using dredged material to produce paving bricks, lightweight concrete structures, mushroom compost for growing sod, and 3D-printed structures for marine placement and shoreline stabilization purposes. At a joint meeting of the Innovative Reuse Committee (IRC) and the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), MPA provided updates on two of MPA’s seven innovative reuse studies.
Property Acquired
In 2023, MPA began developing a master site development plan for a property acquired for the purpose of conducting large-scale innovative reuse projects. Due to residual environmental contami- nation from previous industrial activity, MPA, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the previous owner, Tronox, signed an Administrative Consent Order to ensure the site is cleaned up and fully remediated to meet current environmental standards.
Beneficial Reuse
Mid-Bay Island and Poplar Island are examples of long-eroded islands in our beautiful Chesapeake Bay that are being restored with sediment from our shipping channels. This provides shoreline protection for area residents, preserves and grows wetlands and upland habitats, and fosters the pres- ence of local wildlife and waterfowl.
PHOTO BY RHBTRUCKING
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