The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) released the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule to establish a No Discharge Zone covering all California coastal waters. The rule would apply to all cruise ships and to large ocean-going vessels with adequate sewage holding capacity. Though it is intended to protect receiving waters, the rule does not cover discharges from land-based sources such as municipal wastewater treatment facilities.
“Cruise Lines International Association members follow science-based industry practices that exceed mandatory California and other applicable water discharge regulations, and therefore meet the requirements of the new, proposed EPA rule covering blackwater. The cruise industry shares EPA’s and the State Water Resources Control Board’s commitment to protect California’s coastal waters. While international regulations permit the discharge of untreated blackwater (sewage) 12 miles from shore, as a policy our member cruise lines first treat blackwater with approved technologies prior to discharge anywhere in the world.”
From "Cruise Industry News"
Saturday, August 28, 2010
U.S. Coast Guard Crews Change Tide of Energy Consumption
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Northern New England (SNNE) crews will partner with Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) members to demonstrate the nation's most robust tidal energy program on, Aug. 24, 2010.
Gov. John Baldacci, Congressman Mike Michaud and Capt. James McPherson, SNNE’s commander, will unite at Coast Guard Station Eastport to celebrate the first-ever successful implementation of tidal energy at a federal facility.
Massive tidal ranges in the ocean waters surrounding Eastport represent some of the largest in the country, rising and falling over 20 feet. The Coast Guard’s Research and Development Center (RDC), located in New London, Conn., and SNNE collaborated with Ocean Renewable Power Company to commission the first ever use of a tidal energy generator.
The 60 kW tidal turbine was launched in March for testing and is the largest ocean tidal energy generator in the United States. The turbine generator unit (TGU) is set in a steel-composite frame and is deployed from one of ORPC’s research vessels, the Energy Tide 2, in Cobscook Bay. The unit utilizes advanced design cross-flow turbines to drive the generator and the electricity produced will charge a set of battery modules housed in the Energy Tide 2.
The generator was recently re-deployed following several upgrades and began providing clean, grid-compatible electricity to Coast Guard Station Eastport’s 41-foot Utility Boat on Aug. 18, 2010. The TGU will also be involved in a concurrent project to test an active acoustic monitoring system that identifies marine life and debris in the vicinity of the turbine.
“The tidal generator is a pioneering concept in the field of renewable energy,” said McPherson. “The fact that this prototype is successfully producing power gives us the sense that this project has unlimited potential for not only Coast Guard facilities, but for the United States.”
From "Cruise Industry News"
Gov. John Baldacci, Congressman Mike Michaud and Capt. James McPherson, SNNE’s commander, will unite at Coast Guard Station Eastport to celebrate the first-ever successful implementation of tidal energy at a federal facility.
Massive tidal ranges in the ocean waters surrounding Eastport represent some of the largest in the country, rising and falling over 20 feet. The Coast Guard’s Research and Development Center (RDC), located in New London, Conn., and SNNE collaborated with Ocean Renewable Power Company to commission the first ever use of a tidal energy generator.
The 60 kW tidal turbine was launched in March for testing and is the largest ocean tidal energy generator in the United States. The turbine generator unit (TGU) is set in a steel-composite frame and is deployed from one of ORPC’s research vessels, the Energy Tide 2, in Cobscook Bay. The unit utilizes advanced design cross-flow turbines to drive the generator and the electricity produced will charge a set of battery modules housed in the Energy Tide 2.
The generator was recently re-deployed following several upgrades and began providing clean, grid-compatible electricity to Coast Guard Station Eastport’s 41-foot Utility Boat on Aug. 18, 2010. The TGU will also be involved in a concurrent project to test an active acoustic monitoring system that identifies marine life and debris in the vicinity of the turbine.
“The tidal generator is a pioneering concept in the field of renewable energy,” said McPherson. “The fact that this prototype is successfully producing power gives us the sense that this project has unlimited potential for not only Coast Guard facilities, but for the United States.”
From "Cruise Industry News"
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Environmentalists: Cruise ships using British Columbia waters as 'toilet bowl'
The following appeared in USA Today:
Are cruise ships sailing to and from Alaska dumping an inordinate amount of their waste in the waters off Canada?
That's the charge today from Canadian environmentalists quoted in the Vancouver Sun who say cruise lines are avoiding stringent U.S. regulations on the dumping of sewage and "gray water" (from showers and sinks) by discharging it off the coast of British Columbia. "Cruise ship companies are taking advantage of Canada's weaker laws on sewage discharge to save money," Friends of the Earth Canada chief executive Beatrice Olivastri tells the news outlet. "It is bizarre that B.C. residents should bear the burden of cruise ship pollution from well-heeled tourists."
The story quotes one longtime cruise industry critic based in Canada, Ross Klein, as saying British Columbia is now "the toilet bowl of the West Coast of North America." A Canadian government official notes sewage from ships must be treated before being discharged off the country's coast.
About two dozen large cruise ships operated by Princess Cruises, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and several other major lines pass through British Columbia waters weekly during the summer on their way to and from Alaska from Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.
As usual, there's always another side to the story. I've included a couple of posts from commentors on the USA Today piece. First from "OnAnIsland":
"If all the sewage from all 24 ships was dumped raw, it would not compare to the effluent in the Fraser river which discharges its waste through Vancouver BC. Environmental restrictions in this part of Canada are very lax due to the profit from the pulp and ore industries located upstream. At the confluence with the Thompson River, the water from the Fraser will start eating you alive and has been credited with deformations of many of the Salmon that spawn further upstream. As a guide on the Thompson, I will not even let my passengers step into any water polluted by the Fraser. Vancouver has been living with this for decades so the 12 or so cruise ships that do dock in Vancouver (the rest dock in Seattle and use American waters for most of their trip) should not have much to complain about."
And finally from "Captain Rick":
"The Canadians are dummies. If they have a problem with water dumping, then tighten up their laws. Easy. Also, if they don't want the sewage, then ban the ships from coming into their ports. Let their local merchants scream that their provincial government is screwing them. Effluent from a ship comes out cleaner then from municipal treatments plants. In the long run, it's the Canadians' fault for falling in with the British during and after the American Revolution. We gave them a chance but they blew it."
You can't make this stuff up!
Are cruise ships sailing to and from Alaska dumping an inordinate amount of their waste in the waters off Canada?
That's the charge today from Canadian environmentalists quoted in the Vancouver Sun who say cruise lines are avoiding stringent U.S. regulations on the dumping of sewage and "gray water" (from showers and sinks) by discharging it off the coast of British Columbia. "Cruise ship companies are taking advantage of Canada's weaker laws on sewage discharge to save money," Friends of the Earth Canada chief executive Beatrice Olivastri tells the news outlet. "It is bizarre that B.C. residents should bear the burden of cruise ship pollution from well-heeled tourists."
The story quotes one longtime cruise industry critic based in Canada, Ross Klein, as saying British Columbia is now "the toilet bowl of the West Coast of North America." A Canadian government official notes sewage from ships must be treated before being discharged off the country's coast.
About two dozen large cruise ships operated by Princess Cruises, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and several other major lines pass through British Columbia waters weekly during the summer on their way to and from Alaska from Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.
As usual, there's always another side to the story. I've included a couple of posts from commentors on the USA Today piece. First from "OnAnIsland":
"If all the sewage from all 24 ships was dumped raw, it would not compare to the effluent in the Fraser river which discharges its waste through Vancouver BC. Environmental restrictions in this part of Canada are very lax due to the profit from the pulp and ore industries located upstream. At the confluence with the Thompson River, the water from the Fraser will start eating you alive and has been credited with deformations of many of the Salmon that spawn further upstream. As a guide on the Thompson, I will not even let my passengers step into any water polluted by the Fraser. Vancouver has been living with this for decades so the 12 or so cruise ships that do dock in Vancouver (the rest dock in Seattle and use American waters for most of their trip) should not have much to complain about."
And finally from "Captain Rick":
"The Canadians are dummies. If they have a problem with water dumping, then tighten up their laws. Easy. Also, if they don't want the sewage, then ban the ships from coming into their ports. Let their local merchants scream that their provincial government is screwing them. Effluent from a ship comes out cleaner then from municipal treatments plants. In the long run, it's the Canadians' fault for falling in with the British during and after the American Revolution. We gave them a chance but they blew it."
You can't make this stuff up!
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