Watch: Near-Fatal Accident Caused by Emissions Barge in California Port

A barge used to capture and control emissions caused a near-fatal accident last month at a California port when its massive snorkel collapsed, adding to concerns some hold about the far-reaching impact of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that the barge was operating to be in compliance with.

An October 5 statement from the Port Operators Group of the Port of Hueneme, located in between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles reported that the snorkel on a STAX emissions capture and control barge fell and struck a dock and a Japanese vessel that Monday morning.  

While no injuries were reported, video exclusively obtained by Breitbart News shows the snorkel on the green barge’s dramatic collapse onto the deck of the Pleiades Leader, a Japanese automobile carrier operated by NYK Line.

If any workers had been struck on top of the deck by the heavy metal machinery from that height, they would have undoubtedly been injured or killed. 

At the time, the Port Operators Group said the cause of the accident was “under investigation,” though they did confirm that the incident also spilled a “small amount of “hydraulic fluid.”

“Port officials assessed the small hydraulic-fluid release and determined that Spill Response was not necessary,” the statement reads. “No visible sheen or ongoing leak has been observed. STAX and Port officials continue to assess any environmental impacts.”

The emissions barge, a technology patented by the California-based STAX Engineering, is said to filter and “eliminate” emissions like greenhouse gases, which the company states is to meet “California’s stringent regulatory standards.”

Under CARB Title 17, CCR Section 93130, commercial vessels docked at California ports can be fined tens of thousands of dollars per day if they are not in compliance with their strict emissions standards driven by “climate justice.”

Compliance relies primarily on systems like the STAX barges, which suck up the ship’s exhaust to filter out most of the particulate matter, nitric oxide, and nitrogen dioxide. 

A June article from Deep Background highlights the extensive concerns with the CARB, which it calls California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “own parallel energy policy” that is impacting other states beyond his borders:

Grocery bills look different than they did a few years ago. Amazon packages cost more to ship and items that Americans purchase every day, from electronics to household goods, have quietly become more expensive. There are a lot of reasons for this, but there’s one you’ve almost certainly never heard of: the California Air Resources Board, or CARB.

While Washington fights over tariffs and the Iran conflict keeps oil prices elevated, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is running his own parallel energy policy, and it’s costing every American, whether they voted for it or not.

With non-compliance carrying an up to $50,000 penalty per day, the Californian government has already raked in tens of millions of dollars since 2025 from ships that lacked the required technology. 

In its own regulatory impact analysis, CARB estimated that this will cost about $2.23 billion by 2032. 

“The board called this ‘reasonable,'” the Deep Matter piece noted. “Whether you agree with that characterization depends on who you think should be paying it, and it’s not just California taxpayers who will foot the bill.”

“Shipping companies forced to retrofit their vessels, pay penalties, or reroute around California’s standards don’t absorb these costs themselves. They will build them into freight rates, which flow into wholesale prices, which flow into what retailers charge at checkout,” the article explained. “The $2.23 billion that CARB describes as reasonable gets distributed quietly and invisibly across the entire national supply chain, showing up as a few extra cents here or a few extra dollars there on goods shipped through ports that handle a fifth of everything America imports.”

Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.