22 Seaports To Receive 65 Honors In AAPA's 2011 Awards Programs

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), a trade group representing leading port authorities throughout the Western Hemisphere, has selected 22 seaports to be recognized for exemplary projects, programs and initiatives at its annual awards event later this summer. The awards, for achievements in facilities engineering, environmental improvement, information technology and communications, will be presented to winning ports at a Sept. 14 luncheon in conjunction with AAPA's 100th Annual Convention in Seattle (https://www.aapa2011.org/main.aspx), which runs Sept. 11-15.

AAPA Chairman of the Board Pete Reixach (who is also executive port director of Port Freeport in Freeport, Tex.) and AAPA President Kurt Nagle will present recognition awards to representatives of:

-the Alabama State Port Authority, winner of the 9th Annual Facilities Engineering Awards competition for its Pinto Island Terminal design and build project, which consists of an innovative and highly efficient steel-handling terminal that can accommodate post-Panamax vessels and an annual volume of more than 5 million tons of carbon steel slabs for ThyssenKrupp's new, $4.7 billion carbon steel processing facility;

-the Virginia Port Authority, winner of this year's Environmental Enhancement award for The Green Operator ( or GO) program, which is a voluntary diesel engine retrofit and replacement initiative that began in June 2009 and is expected to have retrofitted or replaced 350 trucks by the end of 2011, removing 20 percent of total air emissions (CO, VOC, SO2 and PM) generated by diesel trucks serving The Port of Virginia;

the Port of Seattle, winner of this year's Comprehensive Environmental Management award for its part in the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy, which is a proactive, voluntary effort of the ports of Seattle, Tacoma and Metro Vancouver (B.C.) to reduce greenhouse gas and diesel particulate emissions from maritime operations in advance of regulation;

-the Port of Seattle, also winner of this year's Stakeholder Awareness, Education and Involvement award for its Terminal 117 cleanup site, which was a joint project by the Port of Seattle and City of Seattle to involve and engage residents of Seattle's South Park neighborhood to support a proposed plan to clean up T-117 that will avoid costly delays and ultimately lead to a cleaner and healthier environment;

-the Port of Long Beach, winner of AAPA's 2011 Environmental Mitigation award, for its Mitigation Grant Programs, which are providing millions of dollars in funding for projects outside of port boundaries that reduce air emissions and health impacts from port operations, particularly for people sensitive to air pollution, such as children, the elderly and those with respiratory/cardiopulmonary illnesses;

-the Port of Long Beach, also winner of the 2011 AAPA Information Technology Awards competition for its Local and Remote Disaster Recovery Sites project, which was created to ensure rapid data recovery in the event of anything from an isolated incident to a major disaster, guaranteeing the port's automated business systems will continue to operate unaffected; and,

-the Port of Long Beach, winner of the 2011 Dan Maynard Communications Award for Overall Excellence, which is bestowed on the port earning the most award points in AAPA's Communications Awards Program competition.