Alex Holford

In his over nine years with the Port of Long Beach, Environmental Specialist Associate Alex Holford has worked on some of the port’s hallmark projects. After starting as a college intern, Holford joined the port’s environmental planning division, where he has worked on the reports necessary to bring in federal grants for the port’s first fleet of fully automated vehicles at the Long Beach Container Terminal. He also acts as a stormwater inspector on the site of the Middle Harbor Redevelopment project, and he will be part of the team assembling the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) report necessary to qualify the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility project for federal funding. “It’s a learning process and you build up your set of tools with every project,” Holford noted. While he takes on projects from other sections of the department whenever necessary, Holford is focused on preparing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and NEPA documents for large-scale construction projects. Previously, he worked with the department’s HAZMAT remediation team, inspecting construction sites to assess the risk for hazardous material to be released into the ground or water. For Holford, working for his hometown was prompted by a sense of duty. “I was born and raised in Long Beach, so I always felt like working for the city where I grew up and live in was something important for me,” he said. The team spirit is what makes his department stand out, Holford noted. “We all get along really well,” he said. “It makes it fun to come into work every day.”