Two Alaska environmental groups said they plan to sue the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation over its decision to allow ships to use the wastewater-treatment technology they have been using for three more years.
According to the groups, the decision is contrary to a 2006 voter-passed law that requires cruise ships to use the best-available wastewater treatment technology.
The Campaign to Safeguard America’s waters said, "Some wastewater treatment systems allowed under the 2010 permit produce more than 10 times the pollution the cleanest ships currently release."
"Some ships are successfully using cleaner technologies and the law requires every ship to match that performance until all state water-quality standards are met," stated Gershon Cohen, project director for the Campaign to Safeguard America’s Waters. "The state’s own records prove the performance and availability of the better systems, and agency staff has confirmed there is room to put them on the remaining ships."
The industry has repeatedly said that the technology to meet the standards either does not exist or would be prohibitively expensive to install. In addition, the industry has argued that the imposed limits on trace metals allowed in treated wastewater are more stringent than Alaska’s own drinking water.
"No community in Alaska would be able to discharge any of their treated waste if they were held to this standard," John Binkley, head of the Alaska Cruise Association, said last year. "Ships could not even discharge drinking water from any port in Alaska under those terms."
Cohen’s group requested an administrative hearing with the state about the issue earlier this year, which was recently denied, Cohen said, leading to his group’s decision to sue.
According to the Associated Pres, ADEC said that the environmental groups have not proven that the treatment system they advocate is the "best choice for all the ships."