Fed Court Okays Ballast Law

A federal judge has upheld the constitutionality of a state law restricting ballast water on
ships entering the Great Lakes. As Rachel Lippmann reports, the ruling clears the way
for other states to take similar action to control the spread of invasive species:

Transcript

A federal judge has upheld the constitutionality of a state law restricting ballast water on
ships entering the Great Lakes. As Rachel Lippmann reports, the ruling clears the way
for other states to take similar action to control the spread of invasive species:


The Michigan law requires ocean-going ships that want to exchange ballast water while
in Michigan ports to clean that water before discharging it into the Great Lakes. The
court rejected arguments from shipping companies that Michigan’s action violated the
Interstate Commerce Clause.


Cameron Davis is the president of the Great Lakes Alliance, which joined the state of
Michigan in the lawsuit. He says the ruling makes it clear states have the right to adopt
their own environmental protections:


“We’re really challenging the other states to quit sitting on the sidelines and start to move
ahead with their own invasive species protections.”


Ohio lawmakers have just proposed similar ballast water law. The bill would also require
Ohio to work with the seven other Great Lakes states and Ontario to develop region-wide
regulations.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rachel Lippmann.

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Citizen Lawsuit Targets Foreign Ships

  • Ocean vessel loading grain at elevator in Superior, Wisconsin. Nine foreign ships have been identified in the lawsuit against international shipping companies. (Photo by Jerry Bielicki, USACOE)

For decades foreign ships have brought tiny stowaways – called invasive
species – into the United States. And once they get loose, they upend
ecosystems and cause billions of dollars in damage. The shipping
industry has yet to seriously address the problem, and now conservation
and environmental groups are suing the companies they say are most at
fault. Mark Brush has more:

Transcript

For decades foreign ships have brought tiny stowaways – called invasive
species – into the United States. And once they get loose, they upend
ecosystems and cause billions of dollars in damage. The shipping
industry has yet to seriously address the problem, and now conservation
and environmental groups are suing the companies they say are most at
fault. Mark Brush has more:


In 1988, the now infamous zebra mussel slipped out of a ship’s ballast
tank near Detroit. It didn’t take long for it to spread, first
throughout the Great Lakes, then through the Ohio and Mississpi rivers,
then on to Alabama and Oklahoma, and now it’s as far west as Nevada.


The mussels clog up intake pipes at water and power plants and mess up
the food chain. In some places in the Great Lakes, they’ve severely
damaged the sport fishing industry.


And that’s the damage just one foreign pest can do. More than a
hundred have gotten in and more are on the way. The government has
done little to stop the spread of these pests from foreign ships. In
2005, a federal court in California ordered the EPA to set up a system.
The EPA appealed that ruling.


Andy Buchsbaum is the Director of the National Wildlife Federation’s
Great Lakes office. He says ballast water from foreign ships should be
regulated:


“The law is very clear. The Clean Water Act says you cannot discharge
pollution into navigable waters, like the Great Lakes, without first
obtaining a permit. Period. Any discharge without a permit
is illegal.”


So, instead of waiting for the EPA to act, several environmental and
conservation groups, including Buchsbaum’s group, say they are planning
to sue several shipping companies that operate ocean-going boats on the
Great Lakes. They’re targeting nine boats they feel are the biggest
violators.


Industry representatives have said that ballast water regulations would
hurt international shipping, but in the Great Lakes, it’s estimated
that ocean-going ships make up only 6% of the overall tonnage.


Joel Brammeier is with the Alliance for the Great Lakes, one of the
groups that intends to sue the ship owners. He says a few ocean-going
boats have caused a lot of damage:


“The cost savings that we’re seeing from allowing unregulated ocean
shipping on the Lakes pales compared to the economic burden that
invasive species are placing on the Lakes. That’s stunning. The
ocean-going shipping industry is actually bringing in less than the
region is losing because of the things that ocean going ships
unintentionally bring in.”


The environmental and conservation groups who intend to sue say there
are ballast water cleaning technologies available now. The National
Wildlife Federation’s Andy Buchsbaum says they’re willing to back off
their lawsuit if the ship owners promise to clean up their ballast
water:


“This legal action is not designed to shut down the shipping industry
in the Great Lakes. That is not our intention. Our intention is to
get these guys to comply with the Clean Water Act. And that means
putting on treatment technology and getting permits.”


The shipping industry says it needs more time. Steve Fisher is with
the American Great Lakes Ports Association. He concedes there are some
technologies to clean up ballast water:


“I’ll be very frank with you. There’s technologies out there that will
do something.”


(Brush:) “So, why not use those?”


“Because a ship owner needs to know how high the bar is before he jumps
over it.”


In other words the ship owners won’t clean up their ballast water until
the federal government tells them how clean is clean, and so far, the
federal government hasn’t done that.


The EPA and the shipping industry say they’re working on the decades
old problem, but the groups that intend to sue say they’re not moving
fast enough. More invasive species are getting in. They’re hoping the threat of a
lawsuit will help force more action sooner.


For the Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.

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Fish Disease Spreads to New Waters

  • The external bleeding on this freshwater drum fish is a result of VHS. The disease is spreading beyond the eastern Great Lakes region. (Photo by John Lumsden, University of Guelph)

A virus that’s been killing fish in the Great Lakes is spreading to
other waterways in the US. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

A virus that’s been killing fish in the Great Lakes is spreading to
other waterways in the US. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Viral hemorrhagic septicemia has been limited to the eastern Great
Lakes region, but now it’s gotten into a forty-mile long lake in
Wisconsin. Lake Winnebago draws anglers from a wide area.


Mike Schmal is a local tourism official. He says the fish-killing
virus could be very disruptive.


“There’s numerous bait shops and numerous businesses that depend on the
lake and this is our summer leisure season… when the boating season
begins and when sportfishing begins.”


Scientists say it appears to be impossible to get the virus out of
infected waters, so natural resource officials are trying to stop VHS
from being spread to more lakes and rivers in other states.


It’s not clear how VHS got into the US, though contaminated
ballast water from international ships is one possibility.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Call to Close Foreign Shipping

  • Some environmentalists are calling for a moratorium on foreign ships entering the Great Lakes. Foreign ships are believed to be responsible for many of the invasive species causing billions of dollars of damage to the Great Lakes economy and ecosystems. (Photo by Lester Graham)

Environmentalists are trying to ratchet up pressure on the shipping
industry over invasive species. They’re calling for a moratorium on
allowing ocean-going ships into the Great Lakes. David Sommerstein
reports:

Transcript

Environmentalists are trying to ratchet up pressure on the shipping
industry over invasive species. They’re calling for a moratorium on
allowing ocean-going ships into the Great Lakes. David Sommerstein
reports:


Foreign freighters account for about 25% of overall tonnage on the
Great Lakes.


Jennifer Caddick says those ships’ ballast water bring a new invasive
species into the region, on average, every six months. Caddick’s
group, Save The River, has joined Great Lakes United in a petition
campaign for a moratorium:


“There is continuous talk, you know over the past 10 or 15 years, about having new, stronger ballast regulations
to stem the flow of invasive species, and unfortunately, nothing has
happened. Frankly, we have said enough is enough.”


Caddick admits a moratorium is unlikely. The agency that runs the
shipping lanes says it would violate a 1909 treaty with Canada.


Invasive species do billions of dollars of damage in the Great Lakes.
There are five bills in Congress to address the problem, but none has made
it out of committee.


For The Environment Report, I’m David Sommerstein.

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State Bans Invaders Where Feds Fail

  • Biologists worry that ships from foreign ports will bring in an even more damaging invasive species called the ‘killer shrimp.’ (Photo by Lester Graham)

One state has a new law in effect to stop ocean-going ships from bringing in foreign pests that can harm the environment.
Rebecca Williams reports neighboring states are watching to see what happens next:

Transcript

One state has a new law in effect to stop ocean-going ships from
bringing in foreign pests that can harm the environment. Rebecca
Williams reports neighboring states are watching to see what happens next:


States are frustrated that the federal government has not stopped pollution
from ballast water.


Michigan is the first state to require all ocean-going ships to have a
ballast water permit to dock at its ports. Shippers can only buy a permit
if they show that they won’t release invasive species into state waters.


Stephanie Showalter directs the National Sea Grant Law Center. She says
it’ll be at least a few months before it’s clear whether the Michigan law
will work.


“Most likely if Michigan’s laws are working and seem easy to implement I’d
suspect the other Great Lakes states would model their legislation very
closely to the Michigan legislation.”


California recently passed its own ballast water law, but it’s not as
restrictive as the Michigan law.


Showalter says the shipping industry could sue Michigan on the grounds that
the law restricts interstate commerce.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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Court Orders Epa to Issue Ballast Rule

A federal court has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to start regulating the discharge of ballast water from ships. Rebecca Williams reports it’s the first time the agency has had to take responsibility for the problem:

Transcript

A federal court has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to start
regulating the discharge of ballast water from ships. Rebecca Williams
reports it’s the first time the agency has had to take responsibility for
the problem:


Ballast water helps stabilize ships, but it can also carry foreign invasive
species that might harm local waterways.


For 30 years, the EPA has exempted ballast water from the Clean Water Act.


Now, the judge has given the EPA two years to come up with rules to limit
the discharge of ballast water.


Tim Eichenberg is with The Ocean Conservancy. The group is one of three
environmental groups that sued the EPA.


“Within two years, EPA should come up with something, some approach, that
could phase in a series of controls that could eliminate invasive species in
ballast water over a period of time.”


The shipping industry is concerned about having enough time to comply with
any new federal regulations.


Shippers already face some new laws at the state level. States such as
Michigan and California have passed their own laws restricting what ships
can do with their ballast in local waters.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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New Research Center for Ballast Treatment

Foreign, invasive species often get into US waters by
hitching a ride in the ballast water of ocean going ships. Now,
a new research center will work to stop the spread of these invasive species. The research center hopes to develop new treatment systems aimed at catching the critters before they get out. The GLRC’s Stephanie Hemphill has more:

Transcript

Foreign, invasive species often get into U.S. waters by hitching a ride in the ballast water
of ocean-going ships. Now, a new research center will work to stop the spread of these
invasive species. The research center hopes to develop new treatment systems aimed at
catching the critters before they get out. The GLRC’s Stephanie Hemphill has more:


The new research center will be built on the edge of the Duluth-Superior port in
Wisconsin. It’ll include storage tanks to represent ballast tanks on freighters. Researchers can introduce exotic species into the tanks, and test various treatments
designed to kill the pests.


Duluth port director Adolph Ojard says currently, ships are exchanging ballast water in
the ocean before entering U.S. ports:


“We have found that it is effective, but we want to be more effective, and the only way
we can do that is to develop full treatment systems on board the ship.”


Systems to be tested include filters, centrifuges, ultra-violet light, and chemicals. Ojard says it’s likely a combination of treatments will be most effective. He says
researchers will be looking for systems that can work in both older and newer ships.


For the GLRC, I’m Stephanie Hemphill.

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States Seek to Tighten Ballast Water Laws

Port officials are wary about new state regulations intended to keep invasive species out of the Great Lakes. Several states are working on laws that would tighten restrictions on ballast water in foreign ships. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bob Kelleher reports:

Transcript

Port officials are wary about new state regulations intended to keep
invasive species out of the Great Lakes. Several states are working on
laws that would tighten restrictions on ballast water in foreign ships. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortiums Bob Kelleher reports:


Proponents hope to keep creatures like zebra mussels from getting
established in the Great Lakes. The non-native plants and animals arrive
in ship ballast water, carried from overseas ports.


Adolf Ojard is the Duluth Seaway Port Director. He says a state-by-state
approach to regulate ballast water is the wrong approach.


“We’re not the only area that is dealing with invasive species. Every
harbor and estuary around the world has a similar concern. It needs to be
dealt with on an international and world level, so that it can be a level
playing field for everybody out there that is involved in transportation.”


Michigan has passed new rules with stiff fines for ships with untreated
ballast water. Wisconsin and Indiana are expected to consider similar
rules; and Minnesota’s Attorney General says he’ll propose the
regulations this spring.


For the GLRC, I’m Bob Kelleher.

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Court Rules Epa Must Regulate Ballast

  • The EPA is being called to put regulations on ballast water discharges. (Photo courtesy of the USGS)

Ballast water discharges from ocean freighters must be regulated by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That’s the ruling of a California judge.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett reports:

Transcript

Ballast water discharges from ocean freighters must be regulated by the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency. That’s the ruling of a California judge. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s

Sarah Hulett reports:


The ruling calls on the EPA to repeal a decades-old exemption for ballast water discharges from the

federal Clean Water Act. Discharges from ships’ ballast tanks have dumped foreign plants and

animals into coastal waters and the Great Lakes. The organisms have wreaked environmental and

economic havoc on native ecosystems.


Jordan Lubetkin is with the National Wildlife Federation.


“By this ruling, ballast water discharge is regulated as a biological pollutant. Ballast water is

treated like a discharge from an industrial facility, or a wastewater treatment facility, and in

this regard it’s no different.”


An EPA spokesman says the agency is reviewing the decision, and its options. The judge has ordered

an April 15th conference for the EPA and the environmental groups that sued to discuss how to move

forward.


For the GLRC, I’m Sarah Hulett.

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International Treaty to Combat Invasive Species?

  • The current range of the invasive zebra mussel. The mussel was first spotted in the Great Lakes in 1988 after being dumped overboard by a foreign ship. It has since spread throughout much of the United States.

Cargo ships bring goods that we buy, but they also bring invasive critters in their ballast water. These invaders compete with native species and upset the natural balance. Now, delegates from around the world have drawn up a plan to help stop the spread of these foreign stowaways. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:

Transcript

Cargo ships bring goods that we buy. But they also bring invasive critters in their ballast water.
These invaders compete with native species and upset the natural balance. Now, delegates from
around the world have drawn up a plan to help stop the spread of these foreign stowaways. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:


Ships need ballast water to keep them upright when sailing open waters. But often that ballast
water contains foreign species.


The international plan aims to implement guidelines that would clean up the ballast water. The
delegates will now try to get their countries to sign onto the plan.


It will be ratified when 30 countries representing 35% of the cargo shipped sign onto it.


Dennis Schornack is the U.S. Chair of the International Joint Commission. The Commission
monitors the health of the Great Lakes. He says the U.S. can’t wait for ratification and needs to
pass it’s own law now.


“I mean we’re having a new species discovered on the average of one every eight months. And if
the convention goes along an ordinary schedule of ratification it could be up to ten years to fifteen
years before it’s effective worldwide. So, we can’t wait that long.”


Schornack is hoping the international plan will give Congress the framework it needs to pass its
own law this year.


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

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