Abstract
The Spanish port system consists of 28 port authorities (PAs) that manage 46 ports, which transported 563.5 million tonnes of freight and 46 million passengers in 2018. They are almost all located in urban environments. In all the ports, complex activities are being carried out that have serious impacts on the environment. One of the most important is noise emission, which poses a risk to natural ecosystems and, above all, to human health. This research focuses on the study of this problem for Spanish ports and is addressed from two sides: first, from an institutional perspective, namely identifying the sources of noise pollution and the prevention, intervention and control strategies during the 2011–2016 period, and, secondly, comparing this analysis and perspective from the point of view of the PAs with the environmental performance detected and reported by the stakeholders. The use, for the first time, of official information sources, verified and audited by the public entity Puertos del Estado, makes this analysis particularly relevant and reinforces the quality of the results. This research confirms the effectiveness of the environmental sustainability planning measures, included in the new port regulations established in Spain in 2010, regarding the mitigation of the impacts of noise pollution arising from port activities.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alsina-Pagés, R. M., Socoró, J. C., & Barqué, S. (2018). Survey of environmental noise in the port of Barcelona. In Proceedings of the international congress Euronoise 2018. Crete.
Antão, P., Calderon, M., Puig, M., Michail, A., Wooldridge, C., & Darbra, R. M. (2016). Identification of occupational health, safety, security (OHSS) and environmental performance indicators in port areas. Safety Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.12.031.
Basner, M., Babisch, W., Davis, A., Brink, M., Clark, C., Jansen, S., et al. (2014). Auditory and non-auditory effects of noise on health. Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61613-X.
Bermúdez, F. M., Laxe, F. G., & Aguayo Lorenzo, E. (2019). Assessment of the tools to monitor air pollution in the Spanish ports system. Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-019-00684-x.
Borelli, D. & Schenone, C. (2018). A multi disciplinary approach for harbour noise pollution reduction: The REPORT project. In Proceedings of the 25th international congress on sound and vibration 2018. Hiroshima.
Curcuruto, S., Fabozzi, C., & Nataletti, P. (2003). Noise impact on workers and population health. In Proceedings of the 8th international congress on noise as a public health problem. Rotterdam.
De Langen, P. W. (2007). Stakeholders, conflicting interests and governance in port clusters. Research in Transportation Economics. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0739-8859(06)17020-1.
Di Vaio, A., & Varriale, L. (2018). Management innovation for environmental sustainability in seaports: Managerial accounting instruments and training for competitive green ports beyond the regulations. Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030783.
Di Vaio, A., Varriale, L., & Alvino, F. (2018). Key performance indicators for developing environmentally sustainable and energy efficient ports: Evidence from Italy. Energy Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.07.046.
Dinwoodie, J., Tuck, S., Knowles, H., Benhin, J., & Sansom, M. (2012). Sustainable development of maritime operations in ports. Business Strategy and The Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.718.
ESPO. (2012). ESPO Green Guide: Towards excellence in port environmental management and sustainability. Bruselas: European Sea Ports Organization. Retrieved February 22, 2019, from https://www.espo.be/media/espopublications/espo_green%20guide_october%202012_final.pdf.
ESPO. (2018). Environmental report. EcoPortsinSights 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2019, from https://www.espo.be/media/ESPO%20Environmental%20Report%202018.pdf.
EU. (2002). Directive 2002/49/EC of the European parliament and the council, 25 June 2002. Retrieved February 20, 2019, from http://sicaweb.cedex.es/docs/leyes/Directiva-2002-49-CE-Evaluacion-gestion-ruido-ambiental.pdf.
Gupta, A. K., Gupta, S. K., & Patil, R. S. (2005). Environmental management plant for port and harbour projects. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-004-0266-7.
Hall, P. V., O’Brien, T., & Woudsma, C. (2013). Environmental innovation and the role of stakeholder collaboration in West Coast port gateways. Research in Transportation Economics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2012.11.004.
Hyrynen, J., Maijala, P., & Mellin, V. (2009). Noise evaluation of sound sources related to port activities. In Proceedings of the 8th European conference on noise control. Edinburgh.
Kalami, W., El Moghrabi, Y., & Wahab, A. A. (2015). Noise mitigation measures of noise activities in harbor area and surrounding. In Proceedings of the 22nd international congress on sound and vibration. Florence.
Le, X.-Q., Vu, V.-H., Hens, L., & Van Hweur, B. (2014). Stakeholder perceptions and involvement in the implementation of EMS in ports in Vietnam and Cambodia. Journal of Cleaner Production. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.07.032.
Licitra, G. & Ascari, E. (2018). MON ACUMEN: An acoustic monitoring network within mediterranean ports. In Proceedings of the 25th international congress on sound and vibration 2018. Hiroshima.
Licitra, G., Bolognese, M., Palazzuoli, D., Fredianelli, L., Fidecaro, F. (2019). Port noise impact and citizens’ complaints evaluation in RUMBLE and MON ACUMEN interreg projects. In Proceedings of the 26th international congress on sound and vibration 2019. Montréal.
Lirn, T., Wu, Y. J., & Chen, Y. J. (2013). Green performance criteria for sustainable ports in Asia. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-04-2012-0134.
Llorca, J. (2014). La gobernanza Puerto—ciudad en España. In port—city governance (143–153). Le Havre: AIPV.
Murphy, E., & King, E. A. (2014). An assessment of residential exposure to environmental noise at a shipping port. Environmental International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2013.11.001.
NOMEPORTS. (2008). Good practice guide on port area noise mapping and management. Retrieved February 7, 2019, from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.showFile&rep=file&fil=NoMEports_GPG_PANMM1.pdf.
Paschalidou, A. K., Kassomenos, P., & Choniaki, F. (2019). Strategic noise maps and action plans for the reduction of population exposure in a Mediterranean port city. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.048.
Peris-Mora, E., Orejas, J. M. D., Subirats, A., Ibañez, S., & Alvarez, P. (2005). Development of a system of indicators for sustainable port development. Marine Pollution Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.06.048.
Puente-Rodríguez, D., van Slobbe, E., Al, I. A. C., & Lindenbergh, D. E. (2015). Knowledge co-production in practice: Enabling environmental management systems for ports through participatory research in the Dutch Wadden Sea. Environmental Science & Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2015.02.014.
Puertos del Estado. (2019a). Marco Estratégico del Sistema Portuario de Interés General. Retrieved December 2, 2019, from http://www.puertos.es/es-es/Documents/Marco%20estrategico%20Resultados%20encuestas%20AAPP%20Doc%20final.pdf.
Puertos del Estado. (2019b). Estadísticas mensuales. Retrieved March 7, 2019, from http://www.puertos.es/es-es/estadisticas/EstadisticaMensual/12%20Diciembre%202018.pdf.
Puertos del Estado (2019c). Memoria de Sostenibilidad del Sistema Portuario Español 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2019, from http://www.puertos.es/es-es/Documents/Memoria%20Sistema%202016%20Def.pdf.
Puig, M., Pla, A., Seguí, X., & Darbra, R. M. (2017). Tool for the identification and implementation of environmental indicators in ports (TEIP). Ocean and Coastal Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2017.02.017.
Puig, M., Wooldridge, C., & Darbra, R. M. (2014). Identification and selection of environmental performance indicators for sustainable port development. Marine Pollution Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.02.006.
Puig, M., Wooldridge, C., Michail, A., & Darbra, R. M. (2015). Current status and trends of the environmental performance in European ports. Environmental Science & Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2014.12.004.
Saengsupavanich, C., Coowanitwong, N., Gallardo, W. G., & Lertsuchatavanich, C. (2009). Environmental performance evaluation of an industrial port and state: ISO 14001, port state control–derived indicators. Journal of Cleaner Production. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2008.04.001.
Santander, A., Aspuru, I., & Fernández, P. (2018). OPS master plan for Spanish ports project. Study of potential acoustics benefits of o-shore power supply at berth. In Proceedings of the international congress Euronoise 2018. Crete.
Schenone, C., Borelli, D., Pallavidino, E., & Yousseu, A. (2019). The port noise analysis and control in interreg Italy–France maritime programme. In Proceedings the 48th international congress and exhibition on noise control engineering. Madrid 2019.
Schenone, C., Brunenghi, M. M., Pittaluga, I., Hajar, A., Kamali, W., Montaresi, F., et al. (2017). Managing European cross border cooperation projects on sustainability: A focus on MESP project. Sustainability (Switzerland). https://doi.org/10.3390/su9010112.
Schenone, C., Pitalluga, I., Borelli, D., Kamali, W., & El Moghrabi, Y. (2016). The impact of environment noise generated from ports. Noise Mapping. https://doi.org/10.1515/noise-2016-0002.
Transports research Institute (TFK). (2013). Noise as an environmental challenge for ports. Retrieved March 14, 2019, from http://projects.centralbaltic.eu/images/files/result_pdf/PENTA_result4_noise.pdf.m.
Van Thanh, N. (2016). Environmental management of seaports in Vietnam (book review). Environment, Development and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-015-9752-9.
Acknowledgements
In addition to the editor, the authors wish to appreciate the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and their gratitude to Puertos del Estado for providing them with the data and necessary information to carry out this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bermúdez, F.M., Laxe, F.G. & Aguayo-Lorenzo, E. Port sustainability in Spain: the case of noise. Environ Dev Sustain 22, 8061–8078 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00560-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00560-9