You can order almost anything online now, but have you ever stopped and wondered about how your packages get to you? Online ordering is convenient (and sometimes cheaper) than shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, but it takes a grave toll on our health and our environment. Find out more below about what you can do to lessen these impacts and make our communities safer and healthier!
Ports
If it’s coming from abroad, it’s coming through a port. On the East Coast, chances are it’s coming through Port Newark-Elizabeth in New Jersey. Port Newark is the second largest port in the country and busiest port overall, attracting millions of diesel freight trucks to move tens of millions of tons of goods.
New Jersey’s history of environmental racism is visible in port-adjacent neighborhoods where communities deal with toxic pollution from:
- Ships
- Industrial Equipment
- Diesel trucks carrying goods
The dangerous emissions and bad air quality caused by all these sources of pollution concentrated in and around ports means that communities living next to ports experience multiple negative compounding environmental and health impacts daily.
Warehouses
The goods leaving Port Newark and other New Jersey ports are taken by large diesel trucks to warehouses varying in size for storage and distribution of materials.
Over 3,000 warehouses have sprung up all over the state, some as large as millions of square feet. Now, over 1 in 3 New Jersey residents lives within a half mile of a mega-warehouse measuring over 50,000 square feet.
That’s about 3 million New Jersey residents.
Likelihood of Living Near a Polluting Warehouse
- Hispanic/Latino communities - 1.8x more likely
- Black communities - 1.4x more likely
- Limited-English communities - 1.9x more likely
- Indigenous American communities - 1.1x more likely
- Low-income communities - 1.5x more likely
In contrast, White communities are 1.2 times less likely to live within half a mile of a mega-warehouse.
Warehouse and Port Pollution Harm Human Health
- A recent study using satellite images found that smog-forming nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution was approximately 20% higher
around warehouses. In New Jersey, this pollution causes over 5,300 new childhood asthma cases every year. - In addition to NO2, port and warehouse traffic also produces fine particulate matter (PM2.5) - microscopic particles that can get stuck deep in the lungs and bloodstream when inhaled - that causes cancer, heart attacks, and heightens asthma risks.
- Every year, small particulate matter from truck tailpipe pollution kills over 300 New Jersey residents, makes thousands sick, and causes tens of thousands of lost workdays, costing an estimated total of $3.75 billion in the state of New Jersey yearly. This lost revenue and loss of life are entirely preventable.
Not only is this warehouse and port pollution making us sick, costing our residents a fortune, and disproportionately concentrated in our marginalized communities, but these warehouses are also taking up valuable land that could be used for housing, parks, or a variety of other uses that would benefit our communities.
Get Involved!
Ports and warehouses may be an important part of the supply chain, but so are people.
Our ask is simple: make these high-traffic businesses adopt responsible practices to stop polluting the air our communities breathe.
There is a bill (A2740/ S2339) pending in the New Jersey Legislature that would hold warehouses and ports in the state accountable for their emissions. A2740/S2339 covers the following:
- Covers warehouses that are 100,000 square feet or more, as well as those that are half that size if they are located in communities which are already overburdened with more pollution than other communities.
- Requires warehouse and port operators to reduce air pollution through annual measures including using zero emissions trucks, EV charging, solar energy, air filters in schools, and other options — with faster action required in overburdened communities.
- Establishes strong conditions for new, modified, and existing warehouses and ports — like pollution limits and ongoing transparency requirements related to truck traffic, business operations, and more.
- Expands public participation so affected communities can request inspections of problematic facilities, intervene in application reviews, and push for stronger protections.
This bill is modeled after Southern California’s 2021 Warehouse Rule 2305 that is already reducing local air pollution for communities.
By passing A2740/S2339, we can create a less polluted, cleaner Garden State where our communities can breathe easier.
