First Name | Elaine |
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Last Name | Regan |
Email Address | 13eregan@gmail.com |
Affiliation | |
Subject | Proposed Control Measure for Ocean-Going Vessels At Berth |
Comment | I am one of approximately 40,000 residents who live in Downtown San Diego. Cruise ships visiting the Port of San Diego dock extremely close to our high-density residential neighborhood and I am very concerned about the toxic pollution caused by ships not connected to shore power. These ships contaminate all of downtown, but are especially dangerous for residents in the half-mile radius of the terminal (which includes the residential populations of high-rise condominiums, apartment complexes and hotels in the high-density districts known as Columbia, Marina and Little Italy). Many of these residents are literally one block from the cruise ship terminal - a distance of about 800 feet. There are approximately 1400 hotel rooms across the street from the ships. I am concerned that CARB is not taking the proximity of the residential population to the docked ships into consideration during its rule making process. The San Diego cruise ship terminal situation is very different than that of Los Angeles and warrants different regulations. A "one size fits all" scenario does not provide the safeguards needed to protect the the health and welfare of the thousands of people living in Downtown San Diego. 1. The January 1, 2021 deadline for ships in fleets being required to connect to shore power is fine but, to safeguard the residents of Downtown San Diego, ALL cruise ships docking at the Port of San Diego should be required to meet this deadline, no exceptions. Cruise lines have had years to convert their ships so this should not create an undue burden for them, and would greatly reduce the pollution affecting downtown residents' lungs and homes. 2. Maintain (or shorten) the current time frame standards to connect to shore power. One hour after the ship docks to berth is acceptable. Changing this connection time to 2 hours after Ready to Work is unacceptable. The Port of San Diego, and the visiting ships, need to make sure that the connections are maintained and labor is available to connect in one hour. Please do not lower standards to allow more than two hours to connect to shore power. 3. As I understand it, the San Diego Port Authority allows cruise ships to re-engage their engines 1/2 hour before leaving the berth. This seems to be a reasonable and workable time-frame so increasing it to one hour, resulting in addiitonal pollution, is not necessary. The risks to the health of downtown residents increases the longer the cruise ships are allowed to pollute downtown. 4. By January 1, 2021, please provide the necessary resources to the Port of San Diego so they may build the additional infrastructure to provide a second connection to shore power. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Elaine Regan San Diego |
Attachment | |
Original File Name | |
Date and Time Comment Was Submitted | 2020-05-01 12:44:06 |
If you have any questions or comments please contact Clerk of the Board at (916) 322-5594.