EPA finds cruise ship discharges are highly polluted

A long-overdue assessment of cruise ship pollution in US waters released on Dec. 20 by the US Environmental Protection Agency found that cruise ships routinely dump massive amounts of poorly treated sewage and highly contaminated raw graywater into harbors and coastal waters. "This report shows that cruise ship dumping is out of control and is only getting worse with more ships and more passengers," said Teri Shore, Campaign Director for Marine Programs at Friends of the Earth. "Since the EPA won't act, here's all the evidence that Congress needs to step in to ban cruise ship dumping close to shore and in sanctuaries–and require the best treatment everywhere else." The report responded to a lawsuit filed by the University of Washington Environmental Law Clinic on behalf of Friends of the Earth in May 2007 seeking a response to a seven-year-old petition calling on the EPA to analyze pollution from the rapidly expanding cruise ship fleet and find ways to prevent environmental harm. The EPA provided detailed pollution data, but no solutions. The EPA found that cruise ship discharges contain concentrations of bacteria, chlorine, nutrients, metals and other pollutants that often far exceed federal effluent and water quality standards and are harmful to human health and the marine environment. The report estimated that cruise ships produce an average of 21,000 gallons per day of sewage and 170,000 gallons per day of raw graywater that can contain as much bacteria as sewage. Large volumes of sewage sludge and oily water are also routinely dumped overboard. A majority of sewage samples taken by the EPA from cruise ships equipped with Coast Guard-approved marine sanitation devices (Type II MSDs) violated national effluent limits for both ship and land-based sewage–and often exceeded national water quality criteria at point of discharge. EPA determined that treated sewage and raw graywater from cruise ships contain such high concentrations of bacteria such as fecal coliform, contaminants like chlorine, and nutrients including ammonia that the discharges can degrade water quality, threaten shellfish beds and contaminate beaches and swimming areas–even when diluted. The report found that even the highly touted Advanced Wastewater Treatment systems required in Alaska are far from perfect. While they produced much cleaner wastewater, treated effluent often did not meet national water quality standards at point of discharge for metals, chlorine or nutrients such as ammonia–all of which can harm the marine environment. The EPA suggested that dilution might solve the problem but also incorporated an overview of equipment that could better remove contaminants. The EPA said that in 2006, 23 of 28 vessels operated in Alaska using the better systems. About 115 cruise ships operate in US waters and more than 12 million passengers are expected to take a cruise next season. Ships are getting bigger, growing by about 90 feet every five years, the EPA estimated.