A comparative analysis of economic benefits and environmental costs for port operations: A case study of Port Everglades.

Ports serve an indispensable role in global commerce and international relations. It is responsible for the transport of 90% of goods in total tonnage and employs over 13.3 million in trade-related positions. Ports, however, can hubs for environmental destructive and detrimental practices. The database, while serving its immediate purposes as a quick reference site, will also provide a longer term purpose in the implementation of the best management practices and green innovations. The model’s results, although corroborated the decision why high-end port development, expansion and maintenance project where economic benefits far outweigh the environmental cost are approved by the authorized agencies, do provide a measure of success for the implementation of clean initiatives. The case study of Port Everglades maintenance dredging provided supporting evidence of environmental degradation resulting from alterations in depth despite the current opinion of no impact beyond the current conditions. The Ports database provides a central location for information gathering, and when paired with the cost-benefit model and an in-depth case study, it provides insight into good practices that promote both environmental integrity and economic benefits