ECOPORT PROJECT

This project was completed in January 2001 and the tools obtained are now in use within the Valencia Port Community.

Valenciaport’s particular environmental awareness led it to undertake an innovative project for continued improvement in this field in 1998, co-funded by the European Union within its LIFE-Environment programme: ECOPORT “Towards an Environmentally Friendly Port Community”.

The aim of the project was to develop a methodology that would enable the various facilities within Valenciaport’s port areas to adopt Environmental Management Systems.

Following completion of the project, Valencia Port Authority and the pilot companies within the programme continue work on the implementation of the environmental management systems developed. The major results of the project are highlighted below.

-          A detailed analysis of the needs of the Port Community with respect to environmental issues.

-          An implementation model for Environmental Management Systems applicable to all companies within the Port Community.

-          The necessary structure for the appropriate dissemination of project results, encouraging their application on both national and international levels, as well as providing specific courses on the following:

o          Environmental awareness seminars for the port sector.

o          Course on Designing Ecomanagement and Ecoauditing Systems adapted to the needs of the port sector.

o          Training for Environmental Auditors specialising in the port sector.

-          The publication of an "Environmental Management Systems Implementation Guide for Port Installations”.

-          Training for specialists in environmental management for port installations.

-          The dissemination among European Union Port Communities, particularly in the Mediterranean area, of the advantages to be derived from applying Environmental Ecomanagement and Ecoauditing Systems in port installations.

The ECOPORT project has become a benchmark for Spanish Port Communities as well as for the rest of Europe. The ESPO (European Sea Ports Organisation) mentions the project in its environmental review from 2001, together with the Swedish METESPO, as one of the two finest examples of environmental management in European ports.

ENVIRONMENTAL INSTRUMENTATION

Within the environmental field there is a clear need to provide the Port Authority of Valencia with instruments for real-time atmospheric control in order to foresee and simulate possible episodes of particle pollution in the port precinct.

This need led to the development of the Environmental Meteorological Instrumentation Project (PIMA) in collaboration with the Public Organisation of State Ports (EPPE) and the Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technologies (CIEMAT).

The major objectives pursued by Valenciaport through this project are:

-          Monitoring meteorological conditions.

-          Local weather forecasts.

-          Monitoring the concentration of sediment particles and particles in suspension.

-          Air quality level forecasts.

Advanced technical means were used to develop this project. The project involved setting up an automatic surface Meteorological Network and processing meteorological patterns. Four meteorological stations provided the data necessary for identifying the most frequent atmospheric dispersion conditions as well as those conditions considered high risk. Pollutant Measuring Networks have also been installed using two sensors for both active and passive sediment and suspension particles. 

In this way the Port Authority of Valencia has a real time model system enabling it to be aware of atmospheric quality in relation to suspended particles.

WASTE TRANSFER CENTRE (WTC)

An area for improvement identified in the ECOPORT project was the management of waste produced by port activity (loading, discharging, storage and handling) and not linked to the MARPOL convention, Hence the Port Authority launched the idea of creating a WTC to enable port companies to remove their waste.

This innovative port project will enable waste generated by port facilities to be collected, evaluated and managed and later transported to their final destinations where they will be adequately processed.

This centre is scheduled to start operating in the second half of this year (2004).

Waste transfer centre. First centre of its kind to be built in a port precinct.

STUDY ON HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITY IN THE PORT OF VALENCIA

A project has been carried out in collaboration with the University of Valencia to study the hydrology and quality of waters in the port of Valencia and determine the impact of port activities on the marine ecosystem.

The project aimed to:

-          Establish the differences between water masses inside and outside the port.

-          Evaluate the degree of confinement by following up data on disolved oxygen, turbidity and light penetration levels per column of water.

-          Obtain the primary productivity levels in the port waters and the potential risk of eutrophication (nutrient enrichment in water).

The results revealed the excellent quality of the waters in the port of Valencia in comparison to waters outside the port which were used as a benchmark. So, in view of the quality of our waters they can be considered as apt for bathing.

The analyses carried out are also a starting point for future studies not only on the quality of waters but also with regard to internal currents which will allow any possible development of pollution to be foreseen. The data obtained will allow us to install real time monitoring equipment by way of which we can prevent or quickly minimise the effects of the possible pollution of port waters.