The Observer, May 2005
Ruling could limit ballast-water dumping
A judge in California has ordered the repeal of a federal regulation that allows oil tankers and other large vessels to dump ballast water into U.S. coastal waters without a permit.
The practice must stop, ruled U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco, because ballast water from distant ports may carry non-native species, a form of water pollution.
During exchanges, ballast water from port is discharged and replaced on the high seas. Here, ballast water is being pumped onto the deck and is running over the side. On other vessels, ballast water is discharged directly from the side of the ship. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.
Non-native species are a problem because they may establish themselves in the waters where they are dumped and threaten native species, potentially including commercially valuable fish stocks such as Alaska salmon. The threat has long been of great concern to the citizens’ council, which has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on research into the problem, and on a search for solutions.
Illston’s March 31 ruling held that the federal Clean Water Act of 1972 means the federal Environmental Protection Agency must require vessel operators to get a permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, before they can dump ballast water. Ships carry ballast water for stability when they travel without cargo.
The oil industry in Prince William Sound already must get an NPDES permit for the Ballast Water Treatment Facility at Alyeska’s tanker terminal in Valdez. That facility treats oily ballast water, which becomes contaminated because it is carried in empty crude oil tanks. It is free of invasive organisms because the oil is toxic to marine life.
Some ballast water is oil-free because it is carried in segregated tanks dedicated to that purpose. That water is dumped as the tankers approach Valdez and thus would fall under Illston’s ruling, if it is upheld.
The ballast-water suit was filed against EPA in 2003 by six environmental groups. As the Observer went to press, the agency had not indicated if it would appeal.
If the ruling does take effect, that wouldn’t necessarily mean a total ban on dumping ballast water, or that the water would have to be completely sterilized before it could be dumped. One current tactic for combating invasive species involves high-seas exchange of the ballast water taken on in port. The theory behind this practice is, coastal species are unlikely to survive if dumped in deep offshore water during the exchange, and deep-water species are unlikely to survive if dumped near shore. In addition, water taken into ballast tanks on the high seas contains fewer organisms than water taken on in port.
The current NPDES permit for the Alyeska ballast water facility allows for low levels of hydrocarbon contamination in the treated water it discharges, resulting in about half a barrel of oil per day entering Port Valdez.