EVERETT— The Port of Everett has been recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal in its 2026 Environmental Sustainability Awards, earning the Operational Excellence award for its leadership in advancing sustainable practices across its waterfront properties.
Puget Sound Business Journal’s annual awards program recognizes organizations in the region that are driving measurable environmental progress through innovation, collaboration, and operational leadership.
“Environmental stewardship is an important priority for the Port, and you can see that it is woven into every operational decision the team makes, whether at the Seaport, the Marina, or our properties at Waterfront Place,” Port of Everett CEO/Executive Director Lisa Lefeber said. “It’s a key aspect of our triple-bottom-line approach to operational decision-making, ensuring that our efforts positively impact our economy, our environment, and our communities.”
Sustainability is central to the Port of Everett’s mission and operations because it is both a practical necessity and a shared responsibility. The Port’s operational excellence in sustainability is demonstrated through a comprehensive approach that includes environmental cleanup, habitat restoration, clean air and water initiatives, long-range planning, sustainable infrastructure development, and more.
“As stewards of our waterfront, environmental sustainability is an important aspect of the Port’s work,” Port of Everett Commission President David Simpson said. “We will continue to enhance our efforts as we prepare for the next 100 years of stewardship.”
Some of those efforts include:
- Environmental Cleanups: The Port has cleaned up and revitalized more than 250 acres of waterfront properties contaminated by years of industrial activity along the waterfront. The Port’s efforts have transformed these properties to the benefit of the entire community. The Port is currently in litigation with Weyerhaeuser Company seeking to have Weyerhaeuser pay its equitable share of the cleanup at its former Mill-A site. That site was Weyerhaeuser’s first mill in Washington State and it operated for approximately 80 years — first as a lumber mill, then as a sulfite pulp mill, then as a thermomechanical pulp mill. Ultimately, Weyerhaeuser ceased its operations at its former Mill-A site because of its inability to meet newly-enacted environmental standards, but not before Port Gardner Bay was contaminated. The Port is committed to ensuring the Bay is cleaned up. The construction cost of the Ecology-selected cleanup remedy was originally estimated to cost more than $200 million and is one of the largest cleanups undertaken in Washington State.
- Decarbonization Efforts: The Port piloted the award-winning Decarbonization Analytics for Port Equipment (DAPE) program in 2025, a real-time emissions monitoring and analytics platform that helps ports identify targeted decarbonization strategies without new infrastructure investment, that helps ports identify operational efficiencies and environmental sustainability improvements simultaneously.
- Habitat Restoration: The Port completed the Blue Heron Slough Restoration in 2022, restoring 353 acres of the Snohomish River estuary — an area lager than the Port’s entire commercial and industrial land holdings combined — 9 miles of new side-channel critical salmon habitat, water filtration and purification before entering Puget Sound, and greenhouse gas capture at rates 4 to 10 times greater than forests.
- Clean Water Initiatives: The Port has installed enhanced biofiltration systems and chitosan-enhanced treatment systems at marine terminals, which are state-of-the-art technologies designed to reduce pollutants entering local waterways; Waterfront Place has modular wetland systems that mimic natural wetland filtration and with more planned in future development phases.
- Clean Air Initiatives: The Port participated in the Puget Sound Maritime Emissions Inventory to measure and evaluate emissions reductions; found in 2021 that despite nearly 300% increase in cargo volumes during the pandemic, the Port reduced CO₂ emissions per ton of cargo by 34% compared to 2016 inventories and 51% since 2005 inventories.
- Future Planning: Through its Climate Change Strategy, the Port identified 16 tailored action categories, ranging from infrastructure resilience to operational changes, providing a comprehensive framework for addressing climate challenges unique to the Port of Everett as it continues to operate and develop the Everett waterfront.
The Port is focused on continuing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improving efficiency across its operations. One of the Port’s current projects is to advance electrification at its marine terminals, with work to start later this year, and investing in lower- and zero-emission cargo handling equipment. These efforts are supported in part by a $4.3 million grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation through the Washington Port Electrification Program. The Port Electrification Project is supported with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health. Information about the CCA is available at www.climate.wa.gov.
About the Port of Everett
The Port of Everett is a special-purpose district tasked with economic development. Through its international seaport, public marina, and real estate development, the Port brings jobs, tax base, business, and tourism to our community and region. The Port is a committed steward of the environment and waterfront. Port activities support more than 40,000 jobs in the surrounding community and contribute $433 million in state and local taxes. Learn more at www.portofeverett.com.
Source: Port of Everett
Author: Lynnwood Times Staff
