Port of New Orleans receives Green Port certification

NEW ORLEANS — Green Marine, a North American environmental certification program for the marine, port and terminal industry, officially recognized the Port of New Orleans recently as a certified Green Port. The Port of New Orleans is the eighth U.S. port to reach certification in the voluntary environmental certification program, which was created for the North American maritime industry. “Green Marine provided us with an action plan to help the port reach the high environmental standards we set for ourselves,” said Gary LaGrange, port president and CEO. “While we are proud of the certification, we will continue to work diligently to be a more environmentally friendly organization.” Green Marine certification is a rigorous, transparent and inclusive initiative that addresses nine key environmental issues. Participants are shipowners, ports, terminals, Seaway corporations and shipyards based in Canada and the United States. The program encourages its participants to reduce their environmental footprint by taking concrete actions. To receive certification, participants must benchmark their annual environmental performance through Green Marine’s environmental program’s exhaustive self-evaluation guides. They also must have their results reviewed by an accredited independent verifier and agree to publication of their individual results. “The Port of New Orleans is recognized internationally as a leader in cargo and cruise operations,” said Amelia Pellegrin, the port’s environmental manager. “As we continue to grow, we want to do so in an environmentally friendly way and serve as a leader in green initiatives and programs within our jurisdiction and beyond.” For more information on the Green Marine program visit: http://www.green-marine.org/The Port of New Orleans is a deep-draft multipurpose port at the center of the world’s busiest port system — Louisiana’s Lower Mississippi River. Connected to major inland markets and Canada via 14,500 miles of waterways, six Class I railroads and the interstate highway system, the port is the ideal gateway for steel, project cargo, containers, coffee, natural rubber, chemicals, forest products, manufactured goods and cruising. An extensive network of ocean carrier services, along with added-value services like transloading of bulk into containers, make the Port of New Orleans the superior logistics solution for many types of cargo. To stay ahead of market demand, the port has invested more than $100 million in capital improvement projects since 2012 and has a Master Plan to expand the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal to an annual capacity of 1.6 million TEUs.