The Pier G Redevelopment Program, a multi-year effort estimated at $500 million, will consolidate and modernize the entire terminal with more efficient, environmentally friendly truck gates, rail facilities and berths.
The work started in 2000 with a storage rail lines, truck gate and deep-water berth project. This was followed by various marine and landside projects that provided additional land for trade and more rail yard capacity to eliminate trucks from freeways, and the construction of two LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified "green building" complexes that will be a showcase of sustainable construction in a container shipping terminal.
Through its "green leases," the Board of Harbor Commissioners is pioneering the use of lease agreements to improve the environment. The board is not an environmental regulator with authority to clean up the ships, trucks, trains and yard equipment at the Port, but it governs the Port through its land-use authority and its power to approve terminal leases.
The Pier G Redevelopment Program's goals were set in the 2006 "Green Lease" signed between the Port and the tenant, International Transportation Service Inc. Since that signing, major improvements have been added to the container terminal, including the Port's first shore power-equipped container wharf, which was dedicated in 2008.
As a leader in sustainable seaport operations and development, the Port of Long Beach has committed to requiring that all new buildings it constructs -- including the structures in the Pier G Redevelopment Program -- pursue a minimum silver rating in the LEED green building certification program.
