NORFOLK, Va. — Governor Northam announced Friday that the Port of Virginia would be getting $14 million from a Volkswagen legal settlement to work on some environmentally-friendly upgrades.
The funds, which come from a trust created after Volkswagen sold vehicles with exhaust "defeat devices," will go towards replace diesel-powered cargo handling equipment with electric counterparts.
Northam also announced $20 million of the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust would be spent to jump-start the Clean Air Communities Program for government fleets.
"With this initiative, we will electrify operations at the Port of Virginia and drive the much-needed transition to clean transportation across our Commonwealth," he wrote.
A spokesperson indicated this money would be used to replace diesel yard tractors and ship-to-shore cranes at the port with electric tractors and cranes.
"Nearly two-thirds of cargo at the Port of Virginia is transported on trucks, with nearby communities disproportionately impacted by diesel pollution. The Port of Virginia project will permanently eliminate more than 3,000 tons of diesel pollution, more than 71,000 tons of greenhouse gases, and more than 6 million gallons of diesel fuel," the statement said.
Attorney General Mark Herring also spoke up in the release from the governor's office. Herring was part of the investigative team that prosecuted Volkswagen, and organized the trust (meant to fund initiatives that could help reduce nitric oxide emissions).
"These are exactly the kind of transformational, innovative investments that we hoped the Commonwealth could make with the funds we secured from our enforcement action against VW,” Herring said.
Virginia got $93.6 million in the Volkswagen settlement in 2017, and this is the fourth time the commonwealth's share of the funds have been set aside for environmental projects.
Some of the money has been used to buy electric school and transit buses, and some has been used to set up an electric vehicle charging network in Virginia.
