One Big Mess at Sea
April 14, 2005
As some of the most popular cruise lines in the world prepare to introduce some of the largest and most extraordinary ships the industry has ever seen, the on-going debate over cruise ship pollution and what should and can be done about it continues to get more complicated and more heated as time goes on. The big problem when it comes to cruise ships is the millions of gallons of raw sewage produced every week on the more than 120 major cruise vessels that are sailing the seas today, and what to do with it all.
According to the Miami Herald, all the ships making up the cruise industry could comfortably hold every single resident of city of Miami with plenty of room to spare. The problem is, no one really knows the best way to get rid of all this sewage. While most industry leaders such as Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruises, Celebrity Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, and Holland America Cruise Lines are all in the process of installing special equipment that will supposedly purify the wastewater onboard the ship before it is dumped back into the ocean, many environmentalists and other state and government agencies are pushing to toughen what they call outdated marine pollution standards.
"Massive cruise ships are dumping millions of tons of solid waste, sewage, and filth into our oceans," said U.S. Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois. "We can't afford to ignore this issue while vacation cruisers continue to leave behind a wake of destructive pollution."
The Cruise Industry argues that these extreme pollution worries are baseless and unfounded, and is waiting on federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data due back in a few months that they say will prove how well the new treatment systems really work, as well as show that the largest concerns for water pollution actually come from land-based sources, not from cruise ships. A study by the Pew Oceans Commission found that cruise ships actually only account for about 1% of today's major water pollutants. Land-based factories and other sources are responsible for nearly 80%.
Currently, the federal Clean Water Act from the 1970s lets cruise ships dump raw sewage anywhere outside of a 3-nautical mile limit from U.S. shores. Inside that boundary, cruise ships can release sewage only after reducing its content of fecal coliform bacteria. The proposed Clean Cruise Ship Act would enforce even stricter guidelines, and severely limit how, when, and where cruise ships will be allowed to dispose of their wastewater. The states of Alaska, California, and Maine have already passed a similar set of guidelines.
The cruise industry has already voluntarily agreed to exceed the rules that are currently in place, something that most cruise lines feel is going above and beyond what is necessary to properly dispose of their waste. The industry claims that member lines treat all sewage and discharge it only when ships are at least 4 nautical miles from shore (12 miles for Royal Caribbean) and moving at least 6 knots per hour, to better disperse it. The same distances are used for the wastewater drained from showers, sinks, and washing machines. Each cruise ship generates up to 1 million gallons of waste water per week!
Environmentalists argue that though commendable, these self-imposed rules by the cruise lines just aren't enough. Since the restrictions don't actually exist anywhere on paper, no one can realistically or legally be prosecuted for violating them, not to mention the fact that it is nearly impossible to monitor every single cruise ship at sea to ensure that they are all doing what the claim to be doing.
The Clean Cruise Ship Act will again go before congress tomorrow, where it died last year after receiving little support. Under the guidelines of the act, ships carrying 250 people or more, traveling between 12 and 200 nautical miles from U.S. coasts, could discharge wastewater only if it is treated to reduce levels of fecal coliform bacteria and other pollutants to meet new standards that would be much stricter than those that exist under current law. Cruise lines would have three years after the laws were passed to meet the new standards. By 2015, all pollutants would have to be completely eliminated from wastewater before dumping. The Coast Guard will then be periodically testing wastewater samples to ensure ship compliance.
So where does the EPA stand on all of this? Well, surprisingly on the side of the cruise lines. In a statement, the EPA said that it is "premature" to jump to conclusions without conclusive data showing that the current measures in place on cruise ships are not working. The proposed act would not change federal laws on garbage dumping or air pollution at sea. Under existing guidelines, paper and food waste has to be ground down and dumped at least 3 nautical miles from shore. Metal and glass must be shredded, bagged, and discharged at least 12 nautical miles from shore. Most cruise lines have also agreed to try to exceed the requirements of these rules as well, and minimize dumping whenever possible.
And the debate goes on...
Brian Reitter Sources: www.TheMiamiHerald.com
