Tag: ballast water

Coast Guard Preparing Ballast Standard

The U.S. Coast Guard is working to develop a new standard for cargo ships to help stop the spread of aquatic invasive species. Officials are holding five public meetings to discuss the environmental impact of such a standard. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports:

Transcript

The U.S. Coast Guard is working to develop a new standard for cargo ships to
help stop the spread of aquatic invasive species. Officials are holding five
public meetings to discuss the environmental impact of such a standard. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports:


At the moment, foreign ships coming into the Great Lakes are supposed to exchange
their ballast water in the open ocean to flush out foreign organisms, such as
zebra mussels. But no one knows how effective that is. Now, the Coast Guard
is developing a standard that will establish how biologically clean a ship’s
ballast water has to be.


Mike Gardiner is a commander with the U.S. Coast Guard in Cleveland:


“I think that some of the preliminary work would indicate that if you eliminate
organisms above a certain cutoff, and you take care of everything that size and
above then you tremendously reduce the chance that you’re going to have an
invasion.”


The Coast Guard is holding a series of public meetings across the country in the
next month in including one in the Great Lakes region. They hope to get input
from biologists, the shipping industry, and environmentalists to help develop
the national standard.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.

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Exotic Zooplankton Eggs a Threat to Lakes?

A preventative measure used by ships is supposed to stop tiny foreign aquatic animals from invading the Great Lakes. But a new study finds it doesn’t always work on their eggs. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

A preventative measure used by ships is supposed to stop tiny foreign
aquatic animals from invading the Great Lakes. But a new study finds
it doesn’t always work on their eggs. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


Ocean-going ships from foreign ports are supposed to swap out ballast
water while at sea. The ocean’s salt water flushes out or kills many
of the tiny invertebrate animals called zooplankton. But Derrick Gray
at the University of Windsor’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental
Research says the higher salinity does not kill many zooplankton
species’
eggs…


“This is important because although ships exchange their tanks in
mid-ocean, if this doesn’t have an effect on the eggs, that means there
could be live organisms introduced into the Great Lakes.”


Gray says the concern is that more exotic zooplankton will out-compete
native zooplankton… a major
source of food for fish. That could hurt Great Lakes fish populations.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Stronger Invasive Law on the Horizon?

Congress is considering legislation that would create national standards for fighting invasive species. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl reports:

Transcript

Congress is considering legislation that would create national standards for fighting invasive species. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl reports:


Two Republican house members and a Democratic Senator are sponsoring the legislation. If the bill passes, it would create nationwide standards designed to keep foreign species from overrunning native plants and animals.


The legislation would extend the ballast water exchange standards currently in effect in the Great Lakes to the entire country. It would also improve screening protocols for importing plants and animals.


The bill also includes some funding to test new technologies. They include using chlorine, filters, and ultraviolet lights to kill off foreign species at some entry points to U.S. waterways.


A staff member for Michigan Senator Carl Levin says the bill is intended to be a first step toward developing international rules to stop the spread of invasive species. The lawmakers plan to introduce the bill when they return from their August recess.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jonathan Ahl.

Regulating Ballast Water as Pollution?

It looks as though the Environmental Protection Agency will reject the idea of requiring cargo ships to get pollution permits before they’re allowed to discharge ballast water. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham has more:

New Ballast Treatment on Display

The state of Michigan is trying a new approach to stop the spread of foreign aquatic species in the Great Lakes – using a new system to clean ships’ ballast water. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Quinn Klinefelter has more:

Transcript

The state of Michigan is trying a new approach to stop the spread of foreign aquatic species in the Great Lakes – using a new system to clean ship’s ballast water. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Quinn Klinefelter has more.


A generator deep in the bowels of the Canadian freighter “Federal Yukon” spits copper ion particles at a cargo hold filled with ballast water. The particles poison any creatures living in the water…a second process cleanses the ballast before it’s drained into the Detroit River. It’s a test designed to find – and hopefully eliminate – any species carried in the water that is NOT native to the Great Lakes. Michigan Lt. Governor Dick Posthumous warned the threat from foreign species like zebra mussels is very real.


“Like an uninvited house guest…they come in uninvited…they eat all your food…and then they leave the house all messed-up.”


Posthumous says the Great Lakes Governor’s Association will meet with Canadian leaders this fall in Chicago to try and find ways to prevent the spread of foreign aquatic species. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Quinn Klinefelter.

Will Legislation Ground Shipping?

Exotic species may claim another victim on the Great Lakes. If
proposed federal legislation passes, shipping industry experts say Great
Lakes commerce could be shutdown. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Mike Simonson reports:

New Invasive Species Found

A new exotic species is invading the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports that this new invader has been causing problems for anglers:

Policing Ballast Water

Controlling exotic species in the Great Lakes hasn’t been easy. Scientists have been unable to slow the spread of things like the zebra mussel. But they still have a chance to prevent other non-native species from infesting Great Lake waters. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel reports on a potential breakthrough: