As the new home of WashPIRG's environmental work, Environment Washington can be contacted regarding this news release.
SEATTLE—At a news conference
on the Seattle waterfront today, the Washington Public Interest Research Group
(WashPIRG) release a report detailing the risk cruise ship pollution poses to
Washington's businesses and economy in the absence of meaningful regulations.
The report "Cruising
for a Bruising: Why Washington Needs Laws to Protect Its Waters from Cruise
Ship Pollution" called on the Legislature to pass a bill that will
more strictly regulate cruise ship pollution in Washington waters. California
and Alaska, have already past strict cruise ship regulations, making Washington
a potential target for increased pollution dumping from cruise ships.
Foremost among the risks,
the report found, is the risk to Washington's coastal economy through the degradation
of fish habitat, and the risk to the economy and human health posed by bacterial
contamination of shellfish beds. It comes at a time when the state legislature
is considering a bill, H.B. 1415, that would regulate cruise ship discharges.
"'Cruising for a Bruising'
shows that our state is taking major risks by not regulating cruise ships,"
said Chris Wells, Oceans Associate for the Washington Public Interest Research
Group (WashPIRG). "Puget Sound is already critically threatened by pollution—we've
got thirty thousand acres of shellfish beds closed because the water is so contaminated.
Alaska and California have already passed legislation just like the ones the
report recommends, and there's not reason for Washington to be the dumping ground
for the west coast."
Wells was joined by Anne
Mosness, former salmon fisherwoman and currently West Coast Coordinator of the
Marine and Fish Conservation Program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy.
"Obviously reducing
pollution is a major concern for coastal states and fishermen and women who
depend on healthy and productive oceans," Mosness said. "We see the
importance of our marine environment every day, from providing essential wild
fish for consumption, to supporting the livelihoods of fishing related businesses,
to our culture as coastal residents. The pollution from the cruise ships industry
is very detrimental to living creatures and marine water quality, and we must
take strong action so we protect the ocean commons for future generations."
Some of the report's most
important findings include:
- In a day, a typical cruise
ship generates 30,000 gallons of sewage, or blackwater; 270,000 gallons of dish
and bathwater, or graywater; 7,000 gallons of oil-contaminated bilge water;
23 gallons of toxic waste; and more than 11.5 tons of garbage.
- In Puget Sound, 30,000 of 165,000 acres of shellfish beds are closed due to
bacterial contamination. Many more are in a threatened, near-closed category.
The bacteria responsible for closures are those associated with human wastes
- the same wastes generated on board cruise ships.
- The cruise industry's environmental record is poor: When Alaska tested wastewater
being discharged by cruise ships in 2000—through Marine Sanitation Devices
certified by the U.S. Coast Guard—concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria
ranged as high as 100,000 times the federal standard.
- The worst instance of cruise ship dumping in Washington occurred in 2003,
when a Norwegian Cruise Line ship dumped 16,000 gallons of raw sewage off Whidbey
Island.
The report also recommends
how to protect Washington waters from cruise ship pollution. Foremost among
the recommendations, the report advocates that the state move from the voluntary
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) it signed with one cruise association last
year to regulations that would be legally enforceable. The report recommends
that regulations include bans on the discharge of blackwater (sewage), graywater
(bath and dishwater), oily bilge water, and hazardous wastes; established penalties
for violations; and a fee system to support a regulatory program at the Department
of Ecology.
Legislation regulating cruise
ship discharges has already been introduced by State Representative Mary Lou
Dickerson. House Bill 1415 has been approved by the Natural Resources and Appropriations
committees; currently the House Rules committee is considering whether to bring
it to the floor of the House for a vote.
"I strongly believe
the WashPIRG report strikes the right balance between protecting Washington's
jobs today and Washington's environment and jobs in the future," said Representative
Dickerson. "Legislation that I have proposed both last year and this year
agrees with the basic principle that we need more than memos to protect the
Puget Sound. We need laws, enforceability and accountability. And this is the
right direction."
H.B. 1415 includes a ban
on the discharge of untreated gray and blackwater; sampling and reporting requirements
for ships discharging treated gray and blackwater in Washington waters; penalties
of up to $10,000 per day, per violation; and a per-passenger fee system to pay
for the Department of Ecology's program.
"We're delighted to
see legislation that will offer better protections for Washington waters from
cruise ship pollution," Wells said. "The report does plenty to criticize
the past records of all the major cruise lines, but Holland America came right
to the table this year to be part of the process, and we thank them for that.
We hope other cruise ship line will follow their leadership"
In the United States, several
states have already passed legislation regulating what cruise ships can discharge.
On the west coast, California has banned the discharge of nearly all cruise
ship wastes, while Alaska has adopted legislation very similar to H.B. 1415.
