Two members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation say they’re committed to reducing diesel pollution in surrounding Port Newark neighborhoods.

After touring Port Newark, Ironbound, and South Ward, Rep. Frank Pallone says Port Authority needs to prioritize cleaning up the air in Newark.

“We were in the residential neighborhoods.  You have the park, and then you have the residential neighborhoods, and then you have the industrial area right next door.  You go to the health center to have a dialysis and you walk and boom, you’re hit with the diesel fumes,” Pallone said.

Rep. Donald Payne Jr. says it will take more than federal and state government regulations to reduce port pollution.

“Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has to step up,” Payne Jr. said.  “People are dying, people are sick, workers are getting sick.  We need to make sure that as the economy grows, it’s not at the detriment of the communities that surround it.”

State Senator Ray Lesniak recently introduced legislation that would require Port Authority to adopt a clean trucks program.  Pallone says they should reinstate a preexisting policy that would have banned older diesel trucks.

“They should not have dropped that ban because of lack of funding,” Pallone said.  “Find the money.  They have all kinds of money to build roads and highways.  This is an important issue.  They need to know that this is a priority.  If they want funding to fix a highway, we want that done, but we also want this pollution problem to be addressed.”

Fred Potter, Port Division Director of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters points to other ports that have already adopted clean truck programs.

“The city of Los Angeles and the Port Authority of Los Angeles did this.  They adopted a clean trucks program that took the oldest polluting trucks off of the road and put the newest technology on the road.  They reduce pollution in that area by over 80%.  That can be done here.  They need the political will in order to do that.”