Environmental

What’s good for the environment is good for all of us

Keeping the air, land and water around us clean is a top priority at the Port of Vancouver USA. We believe that environmental stewardship and economic development can co-exist, and as part of our community, we are committed to doing our part. That’s why we take a proactive, innovative and integrated approach to sustainability, compliance, pollution prevention and natural habitat protection. We even have an environmental team dedicated to this important work.

• Integrated Decision Making – We incorporate environmental costs, risks, impacts and benefits into our business choices, operating decisions and facility planning.
• Sustainability – We maximize the use of sustainable resources in the construction and operation of our facilities and the delivery of our services, formalizing our efforts with the “We Can!” program.
• Pollution Prevention – We avoid contamination of property through best management practices and effective safeguarding programs; and we continue to efficiently remediate historical cleanup sites.
• Compliance – We meet or exceed regulatory requirements in the construction and operation of our facilities and delivery of our services.

Tenant Environmental Management Program

The port’s Tenant Environmental Management Program (TEMP) is a comprehensive and collaborative approach to minimizing the environmental impacts associated with the port’s 50-plus industrial tenants. This award-winning process assesses a potential tenant’s environmental needs prior to entering into a lease and remains in place through the end of the lease term.

Cleanups

The port works closely with the Washington State Department of Ecology to ensure site cleanup activities are conducted in a timely manner and in accordance with the Model Toxic Control Act (MTCA), and other applicable laws and regulations. Ecology provides technical and regulatory oversight and shares the cost of investigation and cleanup under the Remedial Action Grants Program. The port is also committed to pursuing cost recovery from the industrial parties responsible for the contamination.

Learn about the POV-NuStar-Kinder Morgan cleanup.