Port of Oakland’s McKenney talks about partnerships and priorities

Kristi McKenney, executive director, of Port of Oakland discussed partnerships and priorities for the Port in a March 4th interview with AJOT at the Transpacific Maritime (TPM) conference at Long Beach, California.

McKenney highlighted the “partnership with the City of Shafter and the Wonderful Company (a major agricultural producer) to do joint marketing. We're looking at ways to move their cargo up through Oakland more efficiently. And we've had great conversations with them, in fact, here at TPM this week.”

The Port’s ability to help terminal operators transition to zero-emission cargo-handling equipment got a boost when the Port “received $320 million coming in federal grants combined …. with our partners and our funds totaling $470 million.”

The Port currently has “470 or so drayage trucks …. And then we had, I think, 180 pieces of terminal equipment …. So, the terminal operators will make a major shift in the transition. That's a lot of equipment.”

She says the terminal operators “have an option to do both battery and hydrogen. I expect they will do some of each … so that people can try out each. And we, of course, have the world's largest heavy-duty hydrogen fueling station … there are a lot of truck chargers included in the grant as well.”

The Port has the infrastructure to fast-track electrification because “we are a public utility, which is a unique advantage we have so that we can have very favorable pricing for our tenants, which is a great asset in the conversion to zero emissions.”

McKenney says that a big priority is establishing on-dock rail at terminals and “we are going to do a pilot project at the Oakland International Container Terminal, the largest terminal at the Port run by Stevedoring Services of America. We are in discussions with them right now about an on-dock rail pilot project.”

In addition, “We are talking to all of our tenants about on-dock rail, and this is the most logical place for us to start (at OICT) as a pilot and prove it can work…. And then we will be proceeding with all of our tenants.”

Emission Reductions Help Oakland Neighbors

Over the last twenty years, emission reductions at the Port have reduced pollutants impacting neighborhoods adjoining the Port: “Over the last 20 years, there has been an 86% reduction in diesel particulate matter. That is very, very significant. But we know that a lot of other emissions besides these are also impactful … whether it's health, human health or whether it's climate.”

Port Resiliency

The Port is “doing the modeling, doing the vulnerability assessments about flooding and sea level rise and coming up with solutions but what we have to first see what are the solutions we are going to pursue... And then we have to go find the funding for that. We're doing our entire side of the water here, as I said, all the way through Oakland. Then we're partnering with the City of Alameda because water does not pay attention to political jurisdictions. So that's the concept behind the work that we're doing, is looking for mutually beneficial solutions and how do we all invest in the best and most cost-effective solutions together.”

Turning Basins

The Port is also proceeding with environmental impact reports in support of two turning basins allowing vessels to maneuver into better positions for discharging cargo at terminals: “We are doing well on the timeline for when the federal NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) document is completed. We're very close to a final California document. We're responding to comments and finishing up any work that we need to do there. And that will be coming to our Board later this Spring for approval. We're working, of course, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the federal level on making sure we're in the plan and getting those approvals. So, I would anticipate in 2025, we're going to complete the environmental processes and start moving into more deliberate design. And we're working closely with the community with Alameda where there's a lot of impacts related to the construction of the inner Turning Basin …. not so much the outer. But the team has worked hard to address concerns that we've heard especially like trucking impacts and all that material that has to be removed. We've come up with some creative solutions around barging (dredge material) …. and get it out of there without trucking. So I'm pleased with again, listening to people, hearing what their concerns are, and then finding creative solutions.”

Adeline Bridge Replacement

An ongoing effort is being made to replace the aging Adeline bridge which is a key access point for harbor trucking at the Port: “Well, Adeline Bridge replacement is more of an idea … We did work with the City and there's a little bit of preliminary study and analysis of thinking about what do we want it to be, and do we want a replacement to be, and what would it take to really build a proper up to current standard replacement. And so that's kind of early days to get our arms around what is the project exactly. The replacement bridge is really important because it's a complicated piece of roadway over a complicated bunch of rail infrastructure. And so, there's a lot of limitations around what we can do. So, we need to work through some of those details to know what is the project exactly, and therefore then what is going to cost? And then we have to go find the money. This is not a cheap project.”