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News From 91.3 KUWS
Michigan ballast water law could halt international ships to the Twin Ports
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12/30/2006 |
Michigan will require foreign ships to get a permit before it can travel on its waters.Designed to stop invasive species carried in ballast water, it could stop salties from reaching Lake Superior.
This is the first time a state is trying to regulate Great Lakes waters…and there’s some question if the law requiring squeaky clean ballast water will hold up in court. The law, which takes effect January 1, requires that the best available technology to clean ballast water be used in the foreign ships or Michigan won’t allow it in its waters. Duluth Port Authority official Jim Sharrow doesn’t think the law will stop the 150 or so salties that call on his port every year...even though they have to go through Michigan waters to get to Lake Superior. "It may deter some vessels from the Lakes. It may shift some cargoes away from Michigan but we don't expect any direct impact on our own harbor here." (Might it have a chilling effect on saltie traffic?) "We're not expecting that to happen. We'll have to wait and see.” "Essentially yes it will effect other ports. they won't be able to get through Michigan waters without a permit." That's bill sponsor Michigan State Senator Patty Birkholz. She says the Great Lakes eco-system is at a tipping point and the invasion of foreign fish, plants and microbes must be stopped. She says this legislation may seem draconian to some, but she says it has to be that way. "We can't afford it. I don't know about Wisconsin, but in Michigan my taxpayers are covering those costs. And they're saying 'We can't afford it. We don't have that kind of money.” Critics like Sharrow say an international maritime organization is proposing ballast water regulations, and that’s the best way to handle the spread of exotic species.
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