Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Opinion
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/42026697.html#
Go strong on ballast regulations
By George Meyer And Marc Smith
Posted: Mar. 28, 2009
The Great Lakes are a unique economic resource for Wisconsin and the region - supporting communities that depend on business, industries, maritime trade and outdoor recreation. The lakes will continue to play an integral role in the economic future of Wisconsin, the region and the nation.
But that future is jeopardized by invasive species. To the disbelief of Wisconsin's sportsmen and sportswomen, 37 years after the passage of national and state laws to protect the Great Lakes, international ships are still allowed to discharge their ballast water without any effective controls to stop invasive species from entering the lakes. The result of these unregulated discharges is the presence of more than 185 invasive species, such as the zebra mussel, which have devastated the Great Lakes ecosystem and wreaked havoc on the recreational and economically important commercial and sports fishery.
Invasive species alone cost the Great Lakes region hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
We all have seen the results of invasive species: the collapse of the salmon fishery in Lake Huron, the expenditure of over $1.5 billion in the last 20 years to deal with the clogging of water and discharge pipes, the loss of 93% of the forage base for Lake Michigan's fishery and the severe fouling of our beaches, just to name a few.
Existing federal and state laws have not been used as they should to stop ballast water discharges into the Great Lakes. The status quo is not working for the Great Lakes, and as a result, they are facing permanent damage from invasive species.
We commend the state Department of Natural Resources for stepping up, in the absence of effective federal action, to protect the water quality of Wisconsin's waters and the rest of the Great Lakes as reflected in its proposed permit to regulate ballast water discharges. This permit seeks to provide reasonable and practical solutions to this problem.
Some argue that the technology is not there to meet the treatment standards in the proposed Wisconsin discharge permit. However, state and federal water quality laws require all industries and municipalities to treat their waste discharges. This requirement drives the development of the technology necessary to maintain water quality. When it comes to treatment of ballast water discharges, what entrepreneur is going to develop and produce the necessary technology unless it is required by law? The shipping industry certainly has not been demanding such technology because it has been under no obligation to comply with water quality standards.
We are sensitive to the Duluth-Superior Harbor dilemma, where potentially higher regulatory standards on the Superior side of the harbor could drive shipping to the Duluth side. Obviously, we do not want to see that occur. However, the answer to the problem is not adopting the extremely weak standards advanced by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Rather, we strongly encourage Minnesota to adopt the Wisconsin standards for new vessels.
We agree with the shipping industry that a patchwork of regulations causes confusion. In fact, we argue that this patchwork weakens protections against invasive species. Invasive species don't abide by state boundaries and can spread rapidly - so, in reality, Wisconsin's proposed strong standards would be futile if other states, like Minnesota, have weaker standards.
This crisis cries for a federal solution. We can have a healthy, clean and diverse Great Lakes ecosystem. At the same time, with the help of the shipping industry, we can pave the way for a more sustainable and robust freshwater economy that leads to long-term prosperity for Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region.
We applaud the efforts of Reps. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Dave Obey (D-Wis.), Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and the remainder of the Wisconsin congressional delegation to seek the adoption of equally strong federal regulations. However until that happens, it is critically important for Wisconsin to adopt the most stringent standards possible to protect its waters and sustain the economic vitality of the region's communities, businesses and industries that rely upon the Great Lakes.
George Meyer is executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation; Marc Smith is state policy manager of the National Wildlife Federation.
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Distributed without profit to ESA Great Lakes District members who have expressed an interest in receiving aquatic invasive species information for research and educational purposes.
