Case Study: New Orleans Pilot
Background
This case study provides an overview of a community-
port collaboration pilot project conducted in New Orleans
over roughly a one-year period starting in 2016. In
addition to New Orleans, pilot projects were conducted
conducted in Savannah, Seattle and Providence and
were collectively known as the Near-Port Community
Capacity Building Project. Pilot communities received
technical assistance and utilized the draft Community-
Port Collaboration Toolkit developed as part of the EPA
Ports Initiative.
The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA), in collaboration
with the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
(DSCEJ) and the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable
Engagement and Development (CSED), applied to
participate in the pilot program to build collaborative
relationships between the port and near-port
communities.Together, these partners hoped to work
with the local near-port communities to identify issues of
significance to both community residents and the port
and to rebuild trust and effective working relationships
between nearby residents and port leaders.
Technical Assistance
In April 2017, EPA convened a series of in-person Needs
Assessment meetings. The Needs Assessment included
separate facilitated dialogues with port leadership and
community leaders, a joint tour of the port and near-port
neighborhoods, and a collaborative working session with
community leaders and port representatives. EPA and
its contractor provided neutral facilitation for the Needs
Assessment to help create safe spaces for information
exchange and learning.
In the separate facilitated dialogue meetings, port
leadership and community leaders used the Self-
Assessment tools provided in the toolkit to assess the
status of their relationship to each other and identify key
needs and goals for the pilot. Having these confidential
conversations allowed each group to candidly assess
themselves and discuss potential roadblocks and
opportunities for progress. Participants then jointly
toured the port and near-port neighborhoods, which
allowed for relationship building and shared learning.
At the closing working session, participants shared
insights from the facilitated dialogues and tours and
identified focus areas that could guide the pilot including:
•	building trust and a positive relationship between the
port and near-port communities,
•	addressing impacts from truck traffic,
•	improving air and water quality for residents, and
•	developing a mechanism to influence port-related
decisions that affect near-port neighborhoods.
Participants also identified the types of collaboration and
technical assistance that might best support advancing
these goals including:
•	improving access to information,
•	tools and trainings to improve two-way
communication, and
•	support for formalizing a community engagement
policy and processes.
The self-evaluation tools that we used in those
first couple of meetings were just excellent. There
was a lot of energy and excitement from the
community members who were involved in the
meetings about identifying their concerns.
- Mary Williams, DSCEJ Assistant Director
of Community and Student Engagement
EPA-420-F-20-022 | July 2020
EPA Community-Port Collaboration Pilot Projects | 1

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Pilot Highlight: Creati ng Positive
Change through Joint Tours of
the Port and the Community
Port and community leaders identified taking tours of their
respective spaces together as a key element that should be included
in the Needs Assessment process. Community leaders had not
previously seen the port from the water, and port staff were less
familiar with areas of the port and surrounding industrial property that
are adjacent to or within residential areas. Both groups worked diligently to
coordinate and design tours that would highlight things they were proud of,
challenges they have faced and current projects.
Port staff developed a narrated boat tour and put together information packets for
participants that included a map of property ownership and leases at the port as well as current port initiatives.Tour
participants were particularly struck by how complex land ownership and maintenance responsibilities are at the port
and in surrounding industrial areas. Port staff also shared information about the port's economic benefits to the region,
the port's relationship to ongoing projects in the area being led by other agencies, and the port's ongoing internal shift
from a closed-door decision-making process to a new openness to public engagement and transparency.
Community leaders developed a narrated bus tour that highlighted the history and assets of near-port communities
as well as the ways port, industry and goods movement activities negatively impact the residents.Tour participants
saw areas where the port interfaces with the community that they had not known about. During the tour, participants
identified two properties that were creating particular nuisances for near-by residents due to open access to dangerous
areas on an unmaintained site and dumping on property that was perceived to be abandoned.
The tours provided time for bonding over shared experiences such as how difficult it can be to identify the many
entities who own, lease, or are otherwise responsible for decision-making forvarious port and near-port properties.
It also allowed for organic insights such as the opportunity to clean up specific properties through collaboration and
open communication between port and community leadership.
The open dialogue and relationship building that happened throughout the tour inspired real-time problem-solving as
tour participants looked at the two sites with maintenance challenges. Port staff offered to help solve the access issue
on the port-owned property by communicating with their lessee that a hole in the fence needed to be addressed Port
staff also reached out to the City of New Orleans regarding the illegal dumping and secured city resources to clean up
the second property.

These collaborations between community and port leaders were made possible by the shared understanding
generated through the joint tours/Transparent dialogue about points of pride
and points of frustration for both the port and community resulted in the ability
to take positive action together to solve problems with property maintenance.
Taking action on the blighted buildings across from where
people live was monumental! We saw it on the tour, all
agreed it's a problem and worked towards resolving the
problem together.
- Arthur Johnson, Director of CSED
EPA Community-Port Collaboration Pilot Projects
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Pilot Challenges
Based ori the participant needs and goals identified
during the Needs Assessment, the EPA technical
assistance contractor developed a draft community-
port collaboration plan to guide pilot support. However,
reaching agreement on how to move forward with the
pilot proved challenging. After a series of facilitated
conference calls with pilot participants as well as one-
on-one calls with individual partners to help determine
a path forward, Port NOLA withdrew participation in the
pilot.
At first, the community partners decided to proceed
without port participation. DSCEJ and CSED identified
community resilience and infrastructure investments as
two key community focus areas.
However, resource constraints proved challenging for the
community-based non-profits. DSCEJ faced competing
demands on staff associated with a major grant award
to expand its capacity to address equity considerations
related to climate justice, health and environmental
issues in the region. CSED faced similar challenges as their
board was forced to make tough choices about where to
prioritize staff time. Since the pilot project did not include
direct funding to support community-based partner
participation, and Port NOLA withdrew from the pilot,
both organizations ultimately decided to withdraw from
the process to focus on funded work.
Outcomes and Accomplishments
Despite ending before planned, the New Orleans pilot
project resulted in several successful outcomes for the
participants.The pilot:
•	Introduced community leaders to Port NOLA's new
community engagement staff and executive director,
which developed new relationships and lines of
communication.
•	Increased understanding of both the complex
responsibilities for property ownership and
maintenance and the negative impacts of
unmaintained properties on near-port communities.
•	Helped bring about improvements at two properties
affecting the near-port communities - one through
leasing agreement negotiations and a second
through city resources to clean up illegal dumping.
•	Initiated direct communications to CSED from Port
NOLA about issues that impact community residents
such as bridge closings and CSED promptly shared
these announcements with neighbors through their
monthly newsletter.
Toolkit Spotlight:
Using the Self-
Assessment Tools
The Community Action Roadman and Environmental Justice
Primer for Ports both contain Self-Assessment tools that can
help community leaders and port leaders determine where
they are currently and what kinds of change they would like
to see in their relationships over the long-term. Each tool is
tailored to the audience:
•	The Community Action Roadman outlines six key steps
for communities to effectively engage in local decision-
making.
•	The Environmental justice Primer for Ports outlines six
key steps for effectively engaging communities in port
decision-making,
•	The self-assessment tool in both documents helps
users determine which step would most benefit their
community or institution at a particular moment in time.
While the steps in both tools follow a set order, users are
encouraged to start with the step that best fits their needs and
circumstances. The tools recognize that timeframes for each
step will vary depending on the local context and that ports
and communities may cycle through the steps several times as
they address new issues and strengthen local partnerships.
In the New Orleans pilot, the Self-Assessment tools were
used in a senior port staff meeting and a community leaders
meeting to jump start conversation about past challenges
and successes with engagement around decision-making
and to help refine goals for pilot outcomes. In both settings,
participants were asked to review the six criteria in the Self-
Assessment and share with each other whether they felt
they had completed none, some or a lot of work relative to
each statement. Sharing their individual experiences sparked
dialogue that led to new insights for improving relationships
between port staff and community leaders over the long-term.
Additional Educational Resources
EPA Community-Port Collaboration Pilot Projects
As a result of the pilot projects, new resources
have been developed that complement
the Community-Port Collaboration
Toolkit being hosted on EPA's Office
ofTransportation and Air Quality
website.
Click here to explore the new:
resources!

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Lessons Learned
The pilot resulted iri the following set of insights that
could be helpful to other ports communities.
Property maintenance improvements can be low-
stakes and high-reward collaborations.
The pilot partners'help with initiating two property
maintenance projects underscores that collaboration
between near-port community leaders and port leaders
is both necessary and highly achievable. Community
leaders are often the first to know when maintenance
and dumping problems arise or recur at properties
located adjacent to or in their neighborhoods, and port
staff can help identify the correct channels, resources
and decision-makers for effecting change at a particular
property. Property cleanups can make an immediate
difference in the quality-of-life in near-port communities
and can be low-stakes, high-reward projects to tackle
early in the collaboration and trust building phase.
Have frank and transparent discussions to set realistic
expectations among partners.
Ports face internal and external pressures and constraints
that they must balance as they consider making changes
in approaches to community engagement. When
starting collaborative efforts in communities with a
history of contention between the port, industry and
near-port communities, a first step can be having frank
and transparent discussions to set realistic expectations
among the partners.
Community resource constraints can hinder
participation of near-port community partners.
Non-profits and other community-based partners often
face significant resource constraints that influence
decisions about where to focus staff and volunteer time.
Projects that do not include equitable resource support
for community organizations may not be able to reach
their full potential. Often, these organizations do not
have the resources to provide for the additional staff
time, meeting spaces and meeting supports such as food
and childcare that allow for effective and meaningful
community involvement with a project. Rather than
devote time to uncompensated initiatives, community-
based organizations often prioritize their efforts to
funded work.
Next Steps
Looking ahead, project partners are committed to
continuing to invest in improving collaboration between
the port and near-port communities.
•	Port NOLA conducted community engagement
efforts to inform development of the Port NOLA
Strategic Master Plan and the Port Inner Harbor
Economic Revitalization Plan.
•	DSCEJ is continuing to lead community-based efforts
to address climate, health and environmental issues
for Gulf Coast community residents and historically
black colleges and universities, including those in the
communities near Port NOLA. DSCEJ is also engaging
in conversations about zoning changes along the
Mississippi River Gulf Outlet in an area of New
Orleans East that flooded significantly as a result of
infrastructure failure during Hurricane Katrina.
•	CSED is continuing to support an open line of
communication from Port NOLA to community
residents by making space in monthly newsletters
for relevant announcements from Port NOLA and
remains in communication with decision-makers
about future improvements at one of the properties
identified through this pilot project.
For more information about the New Orleans Pilot, contact:
Gloria Vaughn
EPA Region 6
214-665-7535
vauahn.aioriataepa.aov
EPA Community-Port Collaboration Pilot Projects
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