Halifax Harbor Report

The Halifax Port has a strategic location north of the Great Circle Route between Eastern Seaboard and Europe. The region comprises an elaborate system of rail connections between continents. The harbor developed owing to glacial activity attributed to sea-level rise courtesy of glaciations. On a yearly basis, Halifax harbor handles more than 1200 vessels and in the process providing more than 11,000 employment opportunities for gainful income and $1. 6 billion in economic revenue. The natural resources offered by the harbor provide diversity in the region hence the rapidly changing nature of cargo imported and exported in the area. The Halifax Port comprises large loads and a massive supply of containers. Therefore, the port hardly experiences congestion and reduced capacity at the terminals and the railways.

The constitution of the Harbor ensures various options regarding drayage service and truck transportation networks translating to faster delivery of containers, improved turnaround, low costs incurred and reduced time consumption. The port serves leading shipping companies in the world such as South End Container Terminal (2006). It is a business prerogative for installation of systems like the green business concepts and ecological management as chronological approaches to environmental standards by providing the framework on how institutions may approach environment management through proper policies, improved communication, and strong commitment towards achieving sustainable environment. Categories of Environmental Goods and Services at the Harbor The environmental industry at Halifax harbor falls into three main categories, including pollution management, cleaner technologies and products and resources management.

This section of the report would first define environmental goods and services as non-market goods consisting of clean air, water, landscape, green transport facilities like footpaths, cyclist paths, greenways, public parks, urban parks, rivers, mountains, forests, and beaches (Annandale, 2005). These are all elements available at Halifax Natural Harbor enjoyed by residents and visitors of the area. Further categories on environmental goods mainly concern themselves with the impact of utilization of ecological systems on economic conditions, the affairs of human beings and environment. Such products, methods, and functions include membranes, chemical dosing, pipes and tanks, control systems, aerobic systems, anaerobic systems, trenchless boring, and facilities management. Wastewaters also comprise of cooling waters. At the Halifax Harbor, events related to cleansing and supply of water for human consumption and utilization for commercial activities fall under resources management.

Waste management refers to products, systems, and services installed explicitly for collection, disposal, and treatment of municipal, commercial, and industrial wastes at Halifax Harbor. Such comprises of landfill liner, composters, landfill gas extraction, and collection and disposal services. Ecological management refers to activities that fall in the private sector that comprise of environmental dimensions such as environmental management system operation, management and operation and environmental audit work (Tomkins, 2006). The next category of environmental goods comprises of cleaner technologies and products which consist of cleaner-efficient techniques and processes, which eradicate material inputs, reduce energy consumption by businesses and facilities, recover valuable by-products, eliminate emissions, minimize emissions, eliminate wastewater disposal problems or all these factors. Cleaner-efficient products aim at reducing material inputs, improve product quality, reduce energy consumption, reduce waste disposal problems, and eradicate emissions during consumption or all these factors combined.

Resources management is the last category of environmental goods and services at Halifax Harbor. Resources management comprise of potable water treatment and distribution, recycled materials, renewable energy plant, and nature protection. First, facilities charged with the responsibility of recognizing environmental goods and services are the same facilities that provide principal amounts of products that aid environmental protection. This is a discrepancy on usual practice in national accounting concerning firms allocated to industries based on the primary product. At the Halifax Port, few firms comprise the specialization necessary to produce more than one single product and those with the capacity are small. Large firms, on the other hand, provide one or more secondary products. Therefore, if agencies measure activities of all firms that comprise principle products that are environmental, the agencies will include non-environmental firms.