Sustainability

At The Port of Virginia, sustainability is one of our six core values and a focus in all aspects of our work. Our program is anchored by four principles- healthy and safe operations, environmental stewardship, social accountability and financial responsibility.  We are also investing in our communities, terminals and our people, so we can serve as the region’s economic engine for generations to come.

Our colleagues continually evaluate processes for opportunities to improve efficiency, enhance customer service, reduce environmental impacts, and create programs that help build better communities.  Innovation and creativity are keys to our success.  Alternative energy options, advanced engineering techniques, innovative technology, and merely changing the way we conduct business are just a few of the strategies that are executed to support our customers and enhance our operations.

We seek to improve air and water quality within our communities, advance stewardship of the Commonwealth’s ports, harbors, and navigable waterways, and increase efficiency of multi-modal transportation systems in the region, the nation and the world.

Sustainability Policy

The Port of Virginia is committed to conducting operations and managing resources in a fiscally responsible, environmentally sensitive and sustainable manner. It is the intent of each organization to:

1. Drive excellence in operations through our commitment to customer service, process efficiency, and innovation.
2. Employ management systems and procedures specifically designed to improve efficiency of operations, address customer needs, and prevent activities and conditions that pose a threat to human health, safety, and the environment through communication, education, proactive leadership, and compliance.
3. Adhere to an established framework for setting objectives that create competitive advantage, identify and manage risk, and demonstrate a commitment to continual improvement.
4. Meet or exceed all applicable Federal, State, and Local environmental laws and regulations, and other requirements subscribed to by the organization.
5. Integrate financial and environmental costs, risks, and impacts into port project development and facility improvements and to continually evaluate and improve operational efficiencies and practices to achieve our established environmental and business objectives.
6. Promote pollution prevention, response and recovery, and environmental awareness through communication with colleagues, customers, industry partners, government agencies, neighboring communities and environmental organizations.

The Port of Virginia is committed to the spirit and intent of this policy and the laws and regulations, which give it foundation.

Stephen Edwards
CEO/Executive Director

ISO 9001 + 14001 Certifications

Sustainability requires good stewardship of all that we’re entrusted with. At the Port of Virginia, we recognize that environmental stewardship means holding ourselves to high standards and creating a robust program to ensure compliance to all federal, state, and local requirements. The port’s environmental management system is certified to the international ISO 14001 standard. We have maintained this standard since we first attained it in 2008. The scope of our environmental management system includes our terminals and actions are already in place to move to the ISO 14001: 2015 standard.

The port understands that strong processes contribute to sustainable operations and provides the basis for operational excellence and fiscal responsibility. Currently, the port’s support functions are certified to the ISO 9001 quality management system standard. This program also began in 2008 and the port has maintained its certification since then. The port is certified to the most recent version of the standard, ISO 9001:2015.

Process Excellence

The Port of Virginia continues to make both small and seismic changes to how we do business in order to better position ourselves for the future.

Sustainable Work & Work Processes

The port is committed to maintaining and advancing sustainable work processes.  To facilitate this, we are investing in our people and our processes.  Whether it is through the use of Lean, Six Sigma, or ISO 9001, we are identifying our customers’ needs and designing processes which support them.  This is a journey which depends on embracing our core values and working together with our external partners to succeed.

Building & Maintaining Organizational Knowledge

Every great organization realizes that its people are its greatest asset.  We have several years of collective experience running marine terminals, analyzing and reporting financials, responding to marine incidents and a myriad of other functional skills.  As these processes get recorded, we must ensure they are accurate, captured in a format that allows easy recall and are continuously updated to reflect best practices.

Culture of Continual Improvement

The processes that we use today may not be the same ones that achieve results tomorrow.  The port recognizes that change is inevitable and we believe that smart change is a business necessity.  We know that smart change has to be managed.  We are continually evaluating how we perform our activities and looking for how equipment, processes or systems can be adapted to meet current and anticipated needs.

Formalizing our Way Ahead

Within our Innovation division, we have created a Process Excellence group.  This group is responsible to assist the rest of organization in documenting work processes; improving our processes; and teaching process improvement skills.  The creation of this group helps ensure that our process excellence journey continues to remain integrated into all that we do.

Contacts

Scott Whitehurst
Director, Environmental Policy and Compliance
Email: swhitehurst@portofvirginia.com

Billy Goodson
Environmental Compliance Specialist
Email: wgoodson@portofvirginia.com

Vanessa Evans
Senior Manager, Process Excellence
Email: vevans@portofvirginia.com