Groups Urge EPA To Strengthen Ballast Water Discharge Permit

Feb 21: A joint release from Great Lakes and other environmental organizations indicates that U.S. EPA is failing to uphold its Federal Clean Water Act duty to protect the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters from the introduction and spread of invasive species via ships' ballast water discharge. The groups expressed their opposition in comments to the Agency and called on EPA to strengthen a proposed permit to regulate ballast water discharges from commercial vessels. The groups included: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Great Lakes United; Alliance for the Great Lakes; National Wildlife Federation; and Northwest Environmental Advocates.

 

    Thom Cmar, attorney with the NRDC said, "The EPA's new proposed permit isn't tough enough to prevent the next harmful invader from slipping into our waters. The Clean Water Act provides the tools to finally slam the door on invasive species stowing away in vessels' ballast tanks, but EPA is still not proposing the strong federal standards we need to fully protect the Great Lakes and other economically valuable but vulnerable watersheds throughout the country."

 

    In the releases, the groups indicated that invasive species introduced and spread via ballast water discharge are already wreaking havoc on the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters. A litany of non-native invaders -- including zebra mussels, quagga mussels, spiny water fleas and round gobies -- have turned the Great Lakes ecosystem on its head, altering the food web and threatening the health of native fish and wildlife. Non-native ballast water invaders cost Great Lakes citizens, utilities, cities and businesses at least $1 billion every five years in damages and control costs, according to research by the University of Notre Dame.

 

    They indicated that, "Despite the staggering costs associated with the damage caused by invasive species, the EPA has resisted taking action on the issue for decades. The proposed permit to regulate ballast water discharges comes after a long legal battle. Now, as the nation celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, advocates are working to ensure the agency finally issues a permit that shuts the door on invasive species."

 

    The groups indicated that the proposed ballast water permit takes modest steps to reduce the risk of ballast-mediated introductions. They said the permit: Requires ships to install technology that meets the International Maritime Organization's standard to treat ballast water; and Requires ships entering the Great Lakes to employ the added protection of exchanging ballast water to flush out and kill non-native freshwater organisms

 

    However they said the permit still leaves the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters vulnerable to the introduction and spread of invasive species -- and does not adhere to the Clean Water Act. The groups are asking the EPA to make the following improvements to the permit:

• Adopt a zero-discharge standard for invasive species
• Adopt the most protective technology standards nationwide
• Develop standards for lakers, ships that ply the Great Lakes
• Develop a faster implementation timeline to implement new technology standards

    Nina Bell, Executive Director of the Portland, OR-based Northwest Environmental Advocates said, "Not only does EPA's permit fail to meet federal law, but the agency has accepted the shipping industries' time frame for installing ballast water treatment without reservation. As a result, EPA's proposed action will require only half of all ships to have installed treatment by 2016 with the other half dragging out until 2021. After 12 years and three lawsuits, EPA's proposal is too little, too late to protect the nation's environment and economy."

 

    The groups said now the states must certify EPA's permit. EPA must issue a final permit by November 30. Marc Smith, senior policy manager for the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes office said, "There is still time to get this right. Half-measures will not cut it. Prevention is the only responsible course of action to stop the influx of living, breathing, biological pollution into U.S. waters. A failure to confront this problem will allow the problem to get worse and more costly. We have solutions. It is time to use them."

 

    Access the joint release (click here).

 

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7th Cir. Foundation Symposium On Protecting the Great Lakes

Feb 10: The 7th Circuit Bar Association Foundation is hosting a day-long symposium on Protecting the Great Lakes from "Diversion, Pollution, Climate Change, Catastrophes, and Invasive Species." The event will be held at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, February 24, 2012. The program will examine the legal and policy issues facing the Great Lakes with 15 prestigious faculty from both the United States and Canada to present a binational perspective on the issues addressed. Options include: Attend in-person at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago; view online via Live Webcast; or view online via Delayed Webcast (view uninterrupted program or in segments).

    Access complete information including the Program Agenda, biographies of each of our Faculty Speakers and online registration (click here).

 

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Congress Presses Corps On Separating Great Lakes & Mississippi

Feb 3: Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, the five co-chairs of the House Great Lakes Task Force, and 26 of their House and Senate colleagues sent a letter to the civilian head of the Army Corps of Engineers today to highlight a new report, Restoring the Natural Divide, on ways to keep separate the waters of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins [See WIMS 1/31/12]. Such measures could prevent the introduction of harmful aquatic invasive species including Asian carp into the Great Lakes. The detailed $2 million project report prepared by the engineering firm HDR, Inc. for the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, was released on January 30, 2012.

 

   In the bipartisan and bicameral letter to Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army, Civil Works, Levin and the others note that "the report provides a trove of information that the Army Corps of Engineers can use in its own study on the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River Basin and the Chicago Area Waterway System." The members asked the secretary to let them know how the Corps will use the analysis in Restoring the Natural Divide to speed up its own report, the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS). Copies were also sent to Nancy Sutley, Chair, Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and John Goss, the CEQ Asian Carp Director.

 

    Access a release from the Members including the letter and list of signers (click here). Access the report and all supporting materials (click here). 

 

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Study Shows Alternatives To Separate Mississippi & Great Lakes

Jan 30: A report released by the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative identifies strategies for restoring the natural divide between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes -- and, in the process, modernizing the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). Tim Eder, GLC executive director said, "Physically separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds is the best long-term solution for preventing the movement of Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species, and our report demonstrates that it can be done."

    The threat of Asian carp looms large for communities in the Great Lakes region. The lakes provide over 35 million residents with drinking water, contain 20 percent of the Earth's fresh surface water, and support a thriving tourism industry and world-class fishery, which generates an estimated $7 billion in economic activity annually. Voracious feeders that can grow up to 90 pounds, Asian carp have overrun other ecosystems and could cause irreversible damage to the Great Lakes if allowed entry. Once established, invasive species are nearly impossible to eliminate.

    David Ullrich, executive director of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative said, "This is a unique opportunity for both protection of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River and for a Chicago waterway system for the 21st century and beyond. No single use of the CAWS, including transportation, flood control and wastewater treatment, can be considered individually. The system requires an integrated approach and that is what we have taken."

    The report identifies three separation alternatives including: (1) a down-river single barrier between the confluence of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and the Cal-Sag Channel and the Lockport Lock; (2) a mid-system alternative of four barriers on CAWS branches between Lockport and Lake Michigan; and (3) a near-lake alternative of up to five barriers closest to the lakeshore. All three include measures to improve the CAWS's role in flood management, wastewater treatment and maritime transportation, as well as stopping the interbasin movement of aquatic invasive species.

    The three separation alternatives in the report were developed by the engineering firm HDR, Inc., which considered some 20 possible barrier locations in its analysis. No recommended alternative is identified. However, one alternative, the mid-system solution, is the least costly and offers other advantages. The analysis concludes that preventing just a single invasive species from entering the Great Lakes can save as much as $5 billion over 30 years. The Corps of Engineers has identified 10 species that are poised to invade the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River.

    According to the report's economic analysis, the cost of the barriers themselves is as low as $109 million. The addition of all improvements to address water quality, flood prevention and transportation brings the cost to between $3.2 billion and $9.5 billion, depending on the location and the degree to which the wastewater treatment plants on the system are improved to meet future Clean Water Act requirements. The analysis also finds that households in the Great Lakes basin would have to be willing to pay, on average, about $1 a month from now through 2059 to cover the cost of the mid-system alternative, based on a projected cost of $4.27 billion. 

Asian carp have been migrating up the Mississippi River system since the early 1990s and were detected in 2009 to have breached electronic barriers operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the CAWS. In 2010 a live Asian carp was captured in Lake Calumet just six miles from Lake Michigan.

    The GLC, representing the eight Great Lakes states plus the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec, and the Cities Initiative, a coalition of U.S. and Canadian mayors, embarked on the accelerated study in 2010 believing separation to be the best strategy for preventing the movement of Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species between the two watersheds via the CAWS. The $2 million project was funded by a collaboration of six regional funders: the Joyce Foundation, C.S. Mott Foundation, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, Wege Foundation, Great Lakes Protection Fund and Frey Foundation.

    A number of groups with Great Lakes interest, issued a joint release commending the authors' factual analysis concluding that separation is possible and that it must include essential upgrades to sewage, flood control and waterborne transportation while preventing the transfer of invasive species. The groups included: Alliance for the Great Lakes; Clean Water Action Minnesota; Freshwater Future; Great Lakes United; Healing Our Waters–Great Lakes Coalition;  National Wildlife Federation; Natural Resources Defense Council; Sierra Club-Ontario; and Ohio Environmental Council.

    Access a release from GLC (click here). Access the report and all supporting materials (click here). Access a release from the supporting groups (click here).

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IJC's New Approach To Manage Water Levels & Flows

Jan 30: The International Joint Commission (IJC) released information about a new approach to manage water levels and flows in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River system. According to a release, following a five-year binational study and extensive public comment, the IJC is developing a new approach with the assistance of a Working Group of representatives from the governments of Canada, the United States, the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and the State of New York.

    The flow of water from Lake Ontario down the St. Lawrence River is regulated by the Moses-Saunders Dam in accordance with the IJC's 1956 order of approval. The current regulation plan moderates extreme high and low water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. However, it is based on conditions of the last century, does not take the environment into account, and has no process for adapting to future challenges such as bigger storms and more severe droughts. While continuing to moderate extreme high and low water levels, the new approach would allow for more natural water levels and flow patterns and is expected to produce significant environmental improvements. An Adaptive Management strategy would improve the capability to adapt to future changes, including socio-economic changes and significant changes in climate throughout the system.

    The IJC welcomes public input on the new approach and will host online forums and public information sessions around the basin in late spring 2012. Written comments on the new approach may be submitted via the LOSLR website or sent by regular mail or email.

    The organizations Save The River, The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund – Canada (WWF–Canada) issued a joint release offering their organizations' support for IJC's new approach to water level regulation in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. The three organizations are encouraged by the proposal, known as Plan BV7 which they said, "if appropriately implemented, will take steps to restore the lake and river after 60 years of environmentally damaging regulation."

    Access a release from IJC with commenting instructions (click here). Access complete details of the approach (click here). Access a release from the organizations supporting Plan BV7 (click here). Access more information on the Plan from Save The River (click here).

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Great Lakes Shipper To Install Fresh Water Exhaust Gas Scrubbers

Jan 30: Algoma Central Corporation (Algoma), the largest Canadian ship-owner and operator of domestic, Great Lakes vessels, announced that it will install fresh water, exhaust gas scrubbers on six new vessels that will remove 97% of sulfur oxides emissions generated by vessel engines. The St. Catharines, Ontario-based company has signed a contract with Wärtsilä Ship Power for the supply of the systems for its Equinox Class vessels, which are currently being built by Chinese shipbuilder Nantong Mingde Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. The total supply and installation cost of the six scrubber systems is US$12 million.

 

    The two gearless bulk carriers and four self-unloading bulk carriers are designed specifically for Great Lakes service. These ships have been designed with high efficiency hulls that will require less horsepower to achieve higher speeds than any previous Great Lakes design and thus achieve the lowest fuel consumption and emissions per tonne/kilometre of cargo carried. The first Equinox Class vessel will arrive in Canada in the first half of 2013.

 

    The Algoma order is the first for Wärtsilä's new, integrated, fresh water, exhaust gas scrubber design. The scrubbers are designed to clean the exhaust gases of the vessels' main and auxiliary engines as well as the oil-fired boiler and will meet more stringent environmental regulations taking effect over the next three years. The scrubber systems will allow ship-owners to use lower cost, heavy fuel oils while, at the same time, meet the new Emission Control Area sulfur limits established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and adopted by Canada and the United States for the Great Lakes and coastal waters. Without scrubber technology, ship-owners will be forced to convert vessels to burn more expensive diesel oil.

 

    The Wärtsilä scrubber concept works with fresh water recirculating in a closed-loop system. Sulfur oxides that are washed out of the exhaust are neutralized with caustic soda. A small amount of scrubbing water is continuously extracted and an on board water treatment unit removes other captured contaminants such as particulate matter. A major advantage of fresh water scrubbers is the possibility to operate in a zero discharge mode which means that there is no effluent (waste product) from the scrubber discharged into the lake water. The treated, clean effluents would be held in a holding tank for discharge at an appropriate location. Solid contaminants are disposed of at reception facilities in port.

 

    Access a release from Algoma and distributed by American Great Lakes Ports Association (click here).

 

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Science Advisory Board Completes Review Of GLRI

Jan 24: U.S. EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) has completed its review of the Agency's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan FY 2010- 2014 and has produced a 63-page report [See WIMS 11/14/11]. The SAB indicates it supports the premise that enough is known about the issues confronting the Great Lakes, as well as the underlying causes and potential remedies, to initiate action, and agrees that the Action Plan identifies most of the important actions that should be undertaken. The SAB notes that an integrated, science-based framework that provides input and justification for actions is lacking within the GLRI, but finds that the Action Plan is largely consistent with previous plans and strategies, reflecting a continuation of collaborative planning in the region. This continuity is good, but it does not guarantee sufficiency and the SAB has a number of comments and recommendations to improve future efforts.

 

    The SAB supports the primary emphasis on implementing the extensive backlog of restoration projects in the Great Lakes region. The SAB also notes that this 5-year Action Plan is well underway and the plan itself recognizes that as these projects are completed, an evaluation and reprioritization of efforts will be needed using an adaptive management framework. This evaluation will require that a solid, science-based framework be in place to drive the restoration plan. The SAB recommends that the agency create this integrated framework to bolster the Action Plan, to organize the current efforts, and to identify future directions to develop and implement new restoration technologies, methods and approaches.

 

    SAB points out that another important organizational tool that is missing is a standing science panel. The SAB recommends the agency create a well-integrated panel that could influence the program's evolution by providing assessments of progress in key areas. The science panel's input on design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation efforts would provide a scientific basis for setting priorities across disparate actions. In addition to natural and physical scientific expertise, the panel should include the social science disciplines. Behavioral, social, and decision scientists can provide many kinds of insights and advice needed for a program as wide ranging as the GLRI. A diverse panel will offer assistance in targeting education and outreach efforts, and critical insights into the likely workability of particular institutional arrangements.

 

    The SAB notes that climate change is not explicitly addressed in the each of the focus areas of the Action Plan. Restoration efforts of this magnitude and complexity will likely change in the future as alterations in air and lake temperature, amount and patterns of precipitation, ice cover and lake levels may significantly impact restoration efforts.

 

    SAB also notes that there are a number of admirable long-term goals and objectives to eliminate the introduction of invasive species in the Action Plan. Several parallel activities are under way to address specific invasive species (i.e., Asian carp) and vectors (i.e., ballast water controls) in addition to the recommendations on surveillance programs the agency requested. The SAB finds these issues important and timely, and recommends that these parallel efforts be evaluated together to develop a comprehensive invasive species program. The SAB endorses developing a basin-wide invasive species surveillance program and recommends that surveillance and rapid response protocols be coordinated to ensure that the various states, provinces, and other participating organizations use the same methodology and protocols to provide meaningful information and effective rapid response.

 

    Finally, the SAB recommends that the EPA and its partners consider explicit peer review criteria, in parallel with the peer-review process of the National Science Foundation, for all activities (internally and externally funded), including those focused on education and outreach. The criteria should advance the knowledge and understanding of Great Lakes issues, promote teaching, increase participation of underrepresented groups, and broadly disseminate information to enhance the scientific and technological understanding of the public.

 

    Access the complete SAB review report and recommendations (click here). Access the SAB review committee website for complete background information and documents (click here).

 

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