Emergency Response
The Port of New Orleans has its own Harbor Police Department, and its authority extends over the Port's facilities within a three-parish jurisdiction, which includes the Louisiana International Terminal. The department is a fully-authorized police force and has law enforcement, firefighting, and emergency response capabilities. The Harbor Police Department will add to – not take away from – St. Bernard Parish’s existing law enforcement resources.
The Harbor Police have a long-standing partnership with the St. Bernard Sheriff's Office. This will continue through the development and operations of the proposed terminal. This includes developing plans and response protocols together.
Our Harbor Police force is highly trained. Its members pride themselves on quick response times.
Air Quality
We are partnering with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to analyze potential impact on local air quality. Air quality will also be studied as part of the federal permitting process.
The Port of New Orleans is working with Entergy and other partners to explore greater levels of electrification and other technologies at the terminal that can reduce local emissions from operations. We are also considering forward-looking state-of-the-art systems in the design of the terminal. This will help us plan for potential future energy innovations that can further reduce air impacts.
The contribution of sulfur dioxide (SO2) from container terminals is minimal. The current SO2 ambient levels in the area likely won’t increase significantly from terminal activities. The Port of New Orleans already uses alternative fuel vehicles in its fleet to reduce emissions. The Port also works with private truck and tug operators to minimize the impacts of diesel particulates and nitous oxides (NOx) by assisting with engine replacements. Our Clean Truck Replacement Incentive Program (TRIP) offers grant partnerships for engine replacements.
Water Quality
Stormwater from the site will be collected through the terminal’s infrastructure. The terminal is being designed with detention ponds. These ponds will collect runoff from the site before it is discharged to open water, allowing the water to be treated if necessary.
Container yards are required by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to have stormwater permits. That means the quality of the runoff must be monitored for pollutants at specific points where runoff leaves the terminal. These results must be reported to LDEQ to ensure the terminal operations do not negatively affect the local water quality.
Further stormwater permitting from LDEQ is required during the construction phase to ensure runoff from the construction site is not negatively impacting local water bodies. The Port of New Orleans and its contractors are responsible for implementing stormwater protection and controls to protect water quality during construction.
Hazardous Materials
Containers move a wide range of products, commodities, and agricultural items worldwide every day. New Orleans' top exports include plastic resins, forest products, and frozen poultry. Container imports include coffee beans, furniture, electronics, textiles, and medical equipment.
Less than 6.5% of the containers handled at the Port of New Orleans container terminal in 2022 held hazardous cargo. This includes household items like paints and sunscreen; other types include toluene, used to improve gasoline octane ratings; naphthalene, a main ingredient in moth balls; and battery fluids. Even cosmetics and some foods may be classified as hazardous before final production or if in large quantities.
Federal regulations govern the movement of hazardous materials. Multiple agencies are responsible for ensuring safety. Those agencies include the Coast Guard, Louisiana State Police, Department of Homeland Security, and others.
