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Point Source Pollution from Cruise Ships Mark Rollins SCI/275 Olufunke Olawabi Oct 2, 2010 Ships on the high seas have always been a way that people used to travel from one place to another. From Christopher Columbus and his three ships that he used to discover the New World to the modern and plentiful cruise ships of today, ocean travel has always been a preferred method of reaching new lands and vacationing. Unfortunately, with the huge increase in popularity of cruising came a problematic side effect. With the introduction of many new cruise ships in the past 20 years, pollution from these ships has grown exponentially. In some areas it has become so bad that state and federal governments have been forced to pass regulations governing the amount and types of pollution if any that ships may discharge. While these regulations have managed to curb some of the pollution emitted by cruise ships, there is still much more that can be done by the various cruise lines to protect the oceans they travel in and insure the viability of the world’s waters for years to come. Pollution from cruise ships can come in many forms. The United States Environmental Protection Agency breaks pollution from cruise ships down into four main categories. They are sewage, graywater, oily bilge water, and solid waste. Sewage is “human body wastes and the wastes from toilets and other receptacles intended to receive or retain body wastes.”(EPA, 2008). Graywater is defined as “wastewater from sinks, baths, showers, laundry and galleys.” (EPA, 2008). Oily bilge water is classified as a mixture of water and other lubricants such as oil that accumulate in the bottom of a ship from the engines and other mechanical sources needed for the ship to function(EPA, 2008). Finally, solid waste is garbage, trash and other materials discarded by individuals during the day to day operations of the ship(EPA, 2008). Individually, any of these four causes of pollution could cause damage but together they could adversely affect the oceans significantly and for many years. Although the EPA has passed regulations governing discharge from ships and the cruise lines have developed technology to help limit pollution while they are in transit, a management plan is still necessary in order to protect the oceans from these very damaging forms of pollution. An effective pollution management plan for cruise ships must not only address the sources of pollution individually, but must also look at the ramifications of them as a whole as well. To protect the oceans waters from cruise ship pollution, procedures need to be put into place that will limit the discharge of all four major types of pollution that ships emit. Ships should be required to have tanks that retain all graywater and sewage until such time as they reach a port that can safely dispose of this waste, or an Advanced Wastewater Treatment system that as described in the EPA report that can treat this sewage to make it safe for discharge in the ocean(EPA, 2008). Oily bilge water must also be retained on the ship until such time as it can be safely removed or the ship must be equipped with an Oily Water Separator which removed the contaminants from the water and allows the excess water to be discharged back into the ocean(EPA, 2008). Solid waste must be incinerated on the ships or held in proper containers until such time that it can be recycled or disposed of in a sanitary method. By having all ships adhere to a comprehensive waste management plan, ship generated pollution in the oceans can be reduced significantly. The difficulty with any pollution management plan is how to enforce and sustain it since these ships spend a great deal of time on the open sea away from any type of monitoring agency. When ships are out in the middle of a large sea, gulf, or ocean many will be tempted to save time and money and discharge potentially harmful waste into the water. How can this be prevented' Initially, a comprehensive and anonymous study must be initiated to determine which ships are in compliance with all federal and state regulations regarding pollution control. Those ships that are found to be in full compliance should receive recognition for their achievements and those ships that are guilty of unauthorized dumping should be given a report of their actions and a deadline date to be in full compliance. The State of Alaska recently passed the Cruise Ship Ballot Initiative which sets strict guidelines on discharge levels and types for cruise ships that have more than 250 passenger berths(Earth Island Institute, 2005). This initiative sets limits on discharge types as well as requiring discharge permits for all ships falling under the scope of the initiative(EII, 2005). While ships registered to the United States have had to obtain these permits for many years because of the Clean Water Act, foreign ships calling on Alaskan ports have been exempt from these regulations(EII, 2005). This initiative attempts to have foreign ships follow the same guidelines that are required of United States registered vessels. The CSBI also will levy a four dollar charge per passenger fee in order to pay for independent engineers to monitor ship discharge(EII, 2005). The initiative also charges a 46 dollar tax to each passenger that will be shared between the state and the ports of call in the state(EII, 2005). Other states with ports that cruise ships call on should adopt similar legislation in order to protect themselves and their affected waters. After the deadline for compliance has passed, an independent monitoring company who has no ties to the government or any specific cruise agency should continually monitor all ships by conducting inspections anonymously. The agency could hire people to take cruises and report their findings back to the agency. This would create many jobs and the anonymous nature of the monitoring would force the ships to consistently abide by the rules set forth by the initial study. The study and report could be accomplished in 2 to 3 months. The commission would then allow the cruise line 3 to 6 months to come into compliance with the findings of the study and the anonymous monitoring will start as soon as the 6 month deadline has passed. The only opposition to the plan will come from the cruise industry and the lobbyists that work for them. The cruise industry will fight the plan because it will increase certain expenses for them in order to bring all of their vessels into compliance. If other states pass legislation similar to that of Alaska, the lobbyists for the cruise industry will spring into action in an attempt to make certain ships exempt. The state representatives who receive campaign contributions from the cruise industry will likely oppose the legislation, but with significant public support for the passage of similar initiatives, their objections can be overcome. Some cruise passengers will be hostile towards the imposition of a new tax regardless of the size, but with proper education concerning why the tax is there and what the collected money goes towards, that objection should be easily overcome as well. There should be just a few limitations and challenges to implementing the plan to rid the oceans of pollution generated by cruise ships and the cruise industry. The main challenge will be ensuring that all ships are in compliance with the findings set forth by the study. Engineers whose specialty is measuring and monitoring marine pollution levels will have to inspect each ship in order to see if they meet the standards necessary to protect the waters. This could be quite time consuming and could require ships to be held out of service for a short time. Finding and employing enough of these engineers to complete these assessments could also be problematic. After all ships are found to be in compliance, the anonymous monitoring could commence. The main limitation to effective monitoring would be the fact that these ships are in motion 24 hours a day when they are at sea and no ship could be monitored for the entire time it is at sea. The person would risk giving away their identity if they were seen at odd hours consistently by the crew. The possible challenge that a tax on each ticket sold that would help pay for the increased pollution control is not considered an issue because of a study released by the environmental group Oceana. The study found that 60 percent of all cruise line passengers would be willing to pay a tax in order to prevent raw sewage and other pollutants from being dumped in the ocean(Johnson, 2003). The study also found that 90 percent of the yes respondents would pay 25 dollars or more per trip(Johnson, 2003). Clean water in our oceans, gulfs, and rivers is vital for the continued sustainability of our culture. Clean water will allow fish and other marine life to flourish. The increased populations of all marine life will help fisherman maintain their standard of living and will allow the fragile marine ecosystems to sustain themselves for many years to come. As cruising continues to grow in popularity, cruise lines will add more and more ports of call to their itineraries. Unless this plan is enacted, more and more of the world’s waters will be subjected to ship generated pollution and the continued viability of marine life will be compromised. This plan will create jobs and help keep the waters of the world clean with minimal impact on the cruise lines and the passengers who use them. Instead of having ports be declared off limits due to the potential damage from pollution, cities will welcome cruise lines and the money they generate. The fear that allowing a cruise line to dock in a port or use a certain body of water will be eliminated because of these guidelines that will insure the safety of the waters they use. By working together, the cruise lines and the environmental groups charged with keeping our waters safe and clean, can protect not only the cruise industry but the waters they call home as well. References Earth Island Institute. (2005). Campaign to safeguard America’s waters: cruise ship initiative sets sail. Earth Island Journal. Retrieved from http://earthisland.org Johnson, J. (2003). Battle at sea; Cruise ship sewage dumping survey draws industry’s ire. Waste News. Retrieved from University of Phoenix Library. United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2008). Cruise Ship Discharge Assessment Report. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov