Seattle Port Commission Seeks Dedicated Applicant

On January 31, 2013, Commissioner Gael Tarleton will resign from the Seattle Port Commission. Under Washington law, the commission has 90 days after the resignation to designate a replacement. Seattle Port Commissioner John Creighton hopes to find the right person to fill this open position, and he's being vocal about what attributes he thinks make a good commissioner.

Since the commission is relatively small, cooperation between members is key. Commissioner Creighton hopes to find an applicant who is committed to clear and open communication, ensuring that the commission runs smoothly without interpersonal conflicts.

"I'd like to find an appointee who has the courage and integrity to say what they mean and mean what they say," Commissioner Creighton says. "If someone is prone to not being upfront or hiding information in a small board like this, the group can become incredibly dysfunctional incredibly quickly. We need to work together as a team to achieve all of our goals, so the ability to work well in a collaborative environment is vital."

Commissioner Creighton would also like to ensure that the appointee is invested in the success of the community, and is willing to do a significant amount of work for a relatively low level of compensation.

"This position involves about 20 hours of work per week, but the monthly salary is only $500 per month," says Commissioner Creighton. "A commissioner is also expected to participate on port-related outside boards and handle other port-related responsibilities throughout the week. We need someone who has the financial flexibility to handle all of this work for a low level of compensation. Ideally, we'll find someone who feels so strongly about the community that the position is worth doing no matter how small the paycheck might be."

Applicants have until February 1 to respond. The commission hopes to hold a vote to appoint the new commissioner sometime during the month of March. Commissioner Creighton will be one of four commissioners selecting the new board member.

"I hope all qualified people will apply and take advantage of this opportunity to serve the people of King County," Commissioner Creighton says.

Seattle Port Official John Creighton Calls on TSA to Update Security Scanners at Sea-Tac Airport

Seattle Port Commissioner John Creighton is concerned about the health impacts and reliability of the security machinery being used by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and is calling on the federal government to replace the current scanners being used with newer, less controversial technology.

The TSA operates “backscatter’’ Advanced Imaging Technology in the security lines at Sea-Tac Airport.   Sea-Tac Airport is the 17^th busiest commercial airport in the country, with 32.8 million passengers having passed through the airport in 2011.  Backscatter scanners are used by the TSA to detect hidden weapons, tools, liquids, narcotics, currency, and other dangerous or prohibited items from being carried aboard planes.

Passenger rights groups and some members of the academic and scientific communities have expressed concerns about the type of radiation emitted from, and privacy and reliability with respect to, the backscatter scanners.  Because of these concerns, many passengers choose to “opt out” of going through Backscatter Scanners, choosing a physical pat-down and older technology x-ray machines instead.

In the wake of the concerns raised by these groups, TSA Administrator John Pistole made a commitment to Congress to conduct an independent study on the effects of backscatter scanners and plans to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to study the effects of the technology.

Backscatter scanners are one of two types of “whole body” imaging technologies being used to perform full body scans of airline passengers.  A competing technology is the millimeter wave scanner. 

The energy that is emitted by a backscatter scanners is a type of ionizing radiation.  Some groups point to studies that have shown ionizing radiation to be carcinogenic even in small doses, though the doses used in airport scanners are believed to have a negligible effect.  Millimeter scanners use a different, less controversial scanning technology.

Over the last year, the TSA has been quietly replacing the backscatter scanners in use at many of the nation’s largest airports with millimeter-wave machines that do not emit x-rays and feature privacy software that produces a generic image of passengers’ bodies.

            Commissioner Johan Creighton Seattle intends to sponsor a motion calling on the TSA to replace the current security machinery in use at Sea-Tac Airport with the millimeter-wave machines being installed at other large commercial airports across the country.“The health and safety of the traveling public is our paramount concern at the Port of Seattle, said Commissioner Creighton.  “In view of the high volume of travelers that passes through Sea-Tac Airport every year and the health and other concerns raised by the Backscatter Scanner technology, I am asking the Port Commission to call upon the TSA to invest in safer, more reliable machinery at Sea-Tac Airport, just as they are doing at the nation’s other large airports.”

Commissioner John Creighton Leads Seattle Port Commission’s Efforts to Seek Review of Labor Relations Ruling

The Port approved at its October 23 business meeting a motion authorizing outside legal counsel to seek to dissolve or modify a 2000 federal court order and consent judgment that blocked a Port attempt to make a port business hire workers from a particular Port-allied labor union. The agreement also permanently blocked any other Port actions interfering with the federally-protected rights of concessionaires “to assign work to their own employees.” 

The injunction, which the Port Commission believes is overly broad, has effectively blocked the Port from requiring or even strongly recommending to concessionaires that they adopt a “worker retention” policy. 

The Port has detailed publicly that it wants concessionaires – companies who bid to win lease rights on Port property to do business – to commit upfront, perhaps as a condition of being awarded a concession, that they will take steps to try to hire suitable ex-workers of other Port concessionaires who ended their leases with the Port. The worker retention policy has been proposed as part of a broader Concessions Master Plan the Port is developing to govern its relations from 2015 to 2017 with concessionaires at its Sea-Tac Airport. There are more than 50 in-airport concessionaires at Sea-Tac and others on adjacent airport properties. 

“We have a dedicated, experienced pool of workers at the airport,” said Seattle Port Commissioner John Creighton, “it is important that, as we look to renew our concessions program, we have a smooth transition both for our workforce and the traveling public.”

About Commissioner John Creighton

John Creighton was elected to the Seattle Port Commission in 2005 and re-elected in 2009. He served as Port Commission President from 2007-2008, and for the last two years as co-chair of the Commission’s Century Agenda committee. The Century Agenda committee has led the development of the Port’s 25-year plan to help grow 100,000 new port-related jobs for the Puget Sound region.

Prior to returning home to Seattle in 2000, John was a business lawyer who practiced law in Washington, D.C., and overseas in Istanbul, Helsinki and Singapore with the New York law firm White & Case. John grew up in the eastside suburbs of Seattle, where he attended Interlake High School. For more information about Commissioner John Creighton, please visit www.johncreighton.org.

Commissioner Creighton Comments on 2011 Air Emissions Report and Next Steps by Port of Seattle

Maritime-related air pollution has decreased—as much as 40 percent, depending on the type—since 2005, according to a report released today by the Puget Sound Maritime Air Forum.

                “The results of the 2011 Emissions Inventory are significant, with substantial pollution reductions across the board for the Seattle harbor,” said Seattle Port Commissioner John Creighton.  “We still have work to do in protecting the environment and the health of both our workers and our communities, but the results of the 2011 inventory show that we are headed in the right direction.”

The report is the result of the 2011 Puget Sound Maritime Air Emissions Inventory, which provided an update to the 2005 baseline inventory.

The inventory estimated greenhouse gases, diesel particulate matter and a number of other pollutants, such as sulfur dioxides and volatile organic compounds. It focused on pollutants related to ships, harbor vessels, cargo-handling equipment, rail, heavy-duty trucks and other fleet vehicles associated with maritime activities.

Much of the clean air progress is due to significant, voluntary investments of the maritime industry and government agencies in cleaner technology, cleaner fuels and more efficient systems of operation.

Results from the 2011 inventory will help guide and focus future emissions reduction investments.Emissions in the airshed dropped since 2005 from the following pollutants:

·         Nitrogen oxides: reduced 14 percent

·         Volatile organic compounds: reduced 40 percent

·         Sulfur oxides: reduced 14 percent

·         Particulate matter (PM₁₀): reduced 16 percent

·         Fine particulate matter (PM_2.5): reduced 16 percent

·         Diesel particulate matter: reduced 16 percent

·         Carbon dioxide: reduced 5 percent

Overall, emissions fell for most sources since 2005. Diesel particulate matter emissions are summarized below:

·         Ocean-going vessels: reduced 16 percent

·         Harbor vessels: increased 7 percent

·         Locomotives: reduced 24 percent

·         Cargo-handling equipment: reduced 40 percent

·         Heavy-duty vehicles: reduced 52 percent

·         Fleet vehicles: reduced 47 percent

In the harbor vessels sector, which includes ferries, tugs, fishing and recreational boats, some categories of pollutants increased.This is likely due to a 12 percent increase in boat traffic, as well as an increase in the use of larger engines, which have higher emissions.

The maritime industry has adopted a number of voluntary initiatives to reduce emissions, including switching to low-sulfur or biodiesel fuels, using shore power, replacing or retrofitting older engines and improving systems to use equipment more efficiently.

The Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy, a ground-breaking initiative of the ports of Tacoma, Seattle and Metro Vancouver, B.C., has helped further reduce emissions in the Puget Sound and Georgia air basins. Mandatory engine and fuel standards also have spurred adopting newer engines and cleaner fuels.

Some of the decrease also can be attributed to fewer ship calls and less cargo resulting from a sluggish economy.

Inventory results will help focus future efforts and investments. The ports of Seattle and Tacoma are updating their Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy goals based on the inventory results.

Maritime partners will continue efforts to lower diesel emissions because they pose a public health risk. Exposure to diesel pollutants can contribute to increased rates of lung cancer, chronic respiratory and cardiovascular disease and other health effects.

Maritime industry partners continue to seek ways to reduce emissions from all sources, with particular attention to ships. While ship-related emissions have dropped, they account for 63 percent of the maritime-related diesel particulate matter emissions.

The 2011 results do not account for the North American "Emission Control Area" that went into effect Aug. 1, 2012, requiring ships operating in waters along the Pacific, Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the United States and Canada to burn cleaner fuels. This regulation is expected to have a significant effect in further reducing ship-related emissions.

The Seattle Port Commission will also soon be considering the next generation, or “Phase 2”, of its Clean Trucks Program.  The Commission will be taking a look at a number of options to incentivize cleaner truck technologies in the harbor, including a proposal by Commissioner Rob Holland last year to sponsor a pilot program with respect to trucks powered by compressed natural gas, or CNG.

“We have set the goal at the Port of Seattle to be the cleanest, most energy efficient port in North America,” noted Commissioner Creighton.  “I want to thank Commissioner Holland for his efforts working with port stakeholders –regulatory agencies, manufacturers, shipping and trucking companies and truck drivers – to look at how the Port of Seattle can continue to improve air quality for our community.”