Advocates call for a ban on cruise ship scrubbers, citing pollution concerns

A cruise vessel departs Juneau successful July, 2023. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)

In June, an inspector pinch nan Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation was connected committee a cruise vessel astatine larboard successful Ketchikan erstwhile he noticed thing unusual connected nan starboard broadside of nan alloy — a cloudy discharge that near a shimmery movie connected nan aboveground of nan water. 

The inspector’s study called it an “apparent contamination incident” from nan ship’s exhaust state cleaning system, besides known arsenic nan scrubber. 

“We find violations very often connected scrubbers,” said nan department’s Cruise Ship Program Manager Ben Eisenstein.

Scrubbers are exertion that uses h2o to flush retired harmful chemicals, particularly sulfur, from a ship’s exhaust. Eisenstein says nan usage of scrubbers connected cruise ships has skyrocketed successful caller years, because successful 2020 regulators pinch nan International Martime Organization implemented caller rules requiring ships to pain cleaner low-sulfur fuel, isolated from for vessels pinch an exhaust state cleaning technology. 

“When that came into effect, a batch of these vessels, alternatively of choosing to beryllium compliant pinch that fuel, you know, were spending each this money connected this exertion to support them to pain that soiled fuel,” Eisenstein said. “Because it’s benignant of a newer technology, that’s really it’s benignant of snuck done nan cracks.”

Most cruise ships that sojourn Alaska coming person scrubbers, and nan mostly are open-loop systems that operation seawater pinch exhaust gas, select it, past dump nan remaining wastewater overboard. The state’s rules for cruise vessel wastewater discharge day backmost to a licence from 2013, and astir pertain to grey and blackwater. They don’t see immoderate rules astir about scrubbers. 

Now, much than 3 twelve entities — including Pacific Environment, nan Ocean Conservancy and nan nonprofit Friends of nan Earth — person called connected nan Biden Administration and nan U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to prohibition nan usage of scrubbers astatine nan nationalist level.

Marcie Keever is nan head of Friends of nan Earth’s Oceans and Vessels program. While scrubbers whitethorn forestall harmful pollutants from escaping into nan air, Keever said those chemicals conscionable extremity up successful nan water instead.

“That h2o pulls each those soiled petroleum pollutants retired of nan smokestack and converts it into wastewater — into h2o pollution,” she said.

Though nan Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation still monitors cruise ships, nan independent Ocean Rangers inspection programme ended successful 2019. And Keeever said scrubber contamination coming goes mostly unnoticed by nan nationalist and unchecked by regulators.

“Many of nan discharges hap beyond nan horizon, and truthful I deliberation that’s conscionable successful wide a problem pinch enforcing against nan shipping manufacture and nan cruise industry,” Keever said. “We conscionable person nary eyes connected nan behavior, and nan national agency that’s tasked pinch enforcing it isn’t doing it.”

The authorities of Alaska mislaid overmuch of its authority to ace down connected scrubber contamination done an enactment of Congress known arsenic nan Vessel Incidental Discharge Act, passed successful 2018. That enactment besides requires nan EPA to update nationalist standards for scrubber discharge. Keever said nan national agency has been slow to do so. 

In an email to KTOO, an EPA spokesperson declined to remark isolated from to opportunity nan agency is successful nan process of finalizing those updates. 

Eisenstein said national authorities seldom measurement in, contempt galore authorities reports of scrubber pollution. When cruise vessel companies are punished, he said nan fines are excessively low.  For instance, the EPA found that ships pinch Carnival Corporation made hundreds of scrubber discharges successful Alaska waters that violated Clean Water Act standards backmost successful 2016. In nan end, nan institution was fined a civil punishment of conscionable $14,500. 

“Which is conscionable not enough,” Eisenstein said. “It’s not capable to alteration that behavior. It’s not capable to equilibrium retired nan summation that they’re getting by being non-compliant.”

Cruise Lines International Association Alaska, a waste and acquisition group representing nan cruise industry, did not respond to KTOO requests for comment. 

Right now, a mean sized cruise vessel tin discharge betwixt 6 and 8 cardinal gallons of scrubber wastewater a day. 

That h2o is acidic, and it tin incorporate dense metals and different toxic chemicals from fossil fuels, including carcinogens. 

Research connected nan effects of these toxins are comparatively limited, but 1 study recovered that scrubber wastewater negatively affects oversea urchin reproduction astatine concentrations arsenic low as 0.0001%.

Aaron Brakel is nan cleanable h2o campaigns head for nan Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. He worries Alaska’s marine life can’t grip much contamination threats. 

“Our oceans are astatine truthful overmuch consequence already, pinch water warming, water acidification,” he said. “And truthful really nan correct point to do now is extremity discharging this stuff. Stop utilizing nan soiled fuel.”

Nations for illustration Sweden and Denmark person already banned scrubbers, and California requires vessels sailing of their seashore to usage cleaner-burning debased sulfur marine distillate fuels. Brakel says he hopes Alaska will travel suit.