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Will cruise ships pollute Monterey Bay?
On May 7, 2002, Princess Cruise Lines’ newest and largest vessel, the Star Princess, will pull into Monterey Bay. Nearly 1000 feet long, the 18-deck Star Princess has 17 bars, five swimming pools, nine whirlpool spas and the “largest casino afloat.” Cruise ships are essentially floating cities. The Star Princess carries 3,800 passengers. Feeding, housing, cleaning up after, caring for, and moving the people in these floating cities produces a tremendous amount of waste.
Bluewater Network estimates that during a one-week voyage, a typical cruise ship will generate about
• 210,000 gallons of sewage (known as black water);
• 1 million gallons of wastewater from sinks, showers galleys and laundries (known as gray water);
• 120 gallons of toxic wastes from photo labs, dry cleaning, medical/dental wastes, and used paints;
• 8 tons of garbage; and
• 25,000 gallons of oily bilge water.
The cruise line industry is undergoing unprecedented expansion. California experienced a 67% increase in cruise ship traffic between 1990 and 1998 and more than 50 new cruise ships are scheduled to come into service over the next four years. Although it has been many years since cruise ships have stopped in the Monterey Bay, three different cruise lines have scheduled visits to Monterey in the coming months and many more could be in the works. According to industry spokespersons, post-September 11th travel safety concerns have increased the number of cruises along the West Coast.
Existing laws regulating the cruise line industry are woefully inadequate and poorly enforced. Under current law, cruise ships are permitted to discharge raw sewage into the ocean provided they are more than three nautical miles from shore. Gray water from galleys, laundries, baths and showers, which can contain pollutants such as fecal coliforms, food wastes, oil and grease, detergents, shampoos, cleaners, pesticides, heavy metals and, sometimes, medical and dental wastes, is completely unregulated.
Because ports within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary currently receive few visits from large ships from foreign ports, the arrival of cruise ships into Monterey Bay may present a significant new risk for introduction of invasive species via ballast water discharge or hulls. Finally, cruise ships can generate large volumes of oily bilge water, but monitoring of bilge water discharges is inadequate.
A General Accounting Office report notes that over the past decade, nearly 70 ships associated with 42 different cruise lines have been cited for illegal discharges of oil, sewage, gray water, plastics and other solid waste. Several cruise lines have also been cited for violations of air quality standards. In fact, two out of the three cruise lines planning visits to the Sanctuary this summer have been convicted of violating environmental laws in recent years.
In 2001, the State of Alaska and Congress enacted Alaska-specific cruise ship legislation strengthening water quality protection for Alaska waters. Although the California legislature established a Cruise Ship Environmental Task Force in 2000, the Task Force has not yet issued a report or recommendations to the legislature.
If you are concerned about the impact of cruise ships on the water quality and
wildlife of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, contact
your state and federal representatives and urge them to sponsor legislation
on this important issue.
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