FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2005
Contact: Jennifer Nalbone, Great Lakes United 716-213-0408
Jordan Lubetkin, National Wildlife Federation 734-769-3351
Loophole Plagues Invasive Species Program, Coast Guard Concedes
As Shipping Season Comes to A Close, Coalition Urges:
“Close Great Lakes to Aquatic Invasive Species”
BUFFALO, NY—Days after the U.S. Coast Guard admitted that its program to stop non-native species from entering the Great Lakes had major shortcomings, an international coalition insisted today on the immediate enforcement of existing law to protect the Great Lakes from aquatic invasive species.
“We are calling on the Coast Guard to enforce the National Invasive Species Act and to stop granting exemptions to 80 percent of the ocean-going vessels that enter the Great Lakes claiming that they do not carry ballast,” said Jennifer Nalbone, habitat and biodiversity coordinator for Great Lakes United. “These vessels carry residual water and sediment that can harbor invasive organisms. The Coast Guard has the ability to require these vessels to retain all ballast contents onboard the ship or employ an approved treatment to prevent invasive species introductions. If vessels fail to carry out these protective measures, they should not be granted access into the Great Lakes.”
The U.S. Coast Guard admitted on January 7 in the Federal Register that its ballast water program to protect the Great Lakes from invasive species omits at least 80 percent of ocean-vessels that enter each season. The Coast Guard is now taking the first step to develop a program to address these unregulated vessels.
“The Coast Guard’s program has a loophole big enough to drive a cargo ship through,” said Nalbone. “For years, scientists have known that ships classified as ‘no ballast on board’ carried invaders. While the Coast Guard is addressing this issue now, the lakes desperately needed an effective comprehensive ballast management program 12 years ago. Today, we are calling for immediate enforcement of the stricter regulations the Coast Guard can access.”
Congress authorized the U.S. Coast Guard to implement ballast water regulations in the wake of the zebra mussel invasion and corresponding impacts to the region’s environment and economy. In 1993, the Coast Guard initiated the Great Lakes program, in which any ocean-going vessels equipped with ballast tanks entering the Great Lakes must exchange the tank contents in the open ocean, employ an approved alternative to treat hitchhiking organisms, or retain ballast contents and seal its tanks.
However, a loophole allows more than 80 percent of the oceangoing ships that enter the lakes through the St. Lawrence Seaway to escape what policy makers and the public thought were stringent ballast water regulations. Ships heavy with cargo have avoided Great Lakes program requirements by reporting they have “no ballast on board.” In fact, these ships likely harbor live, viable invasive organisms in the residual tons of ballast water and sediments they carry.