The Seaway Channel

The Seaway Channel has obtained information about a soon-to-be-released report of the joint, U.S.-Canadian, multi-agency, Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway Ballast Water Working Group (BWWG). The BWWG report shows a significant increase in enforcement activity consistent with new, strict, ballast water management regulations implemented last year.

The BWWG, comprised of representatives of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC), the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC), Transport Canada's Marine Safety Division and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) was established in 2006 to ensure close cooperation and coordination of both nations' efforts to jointly enforce ballast water regulations pertaining to ocean vessels entering the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System. The BWWG report of 2008 activities shows a significantly stepped-up enforcement effort which resulted in the ballast tank inspection of 99% of the ocean vessels entering the Great Lakes.

The report says in part, "In 2008, there was marked improvement over the prior year’s inspection program statistics in a number of areas, including ship compliance rates. In 2008, 99% of ships bound for the Great Lakes Seaway received a ballast tank exam. A total of 6704 ballast tanks, onboard 364 different ships, were sampled and had a 98.6% compliance rate. Ships that failed to properly manage their ballast tanks were required to either retain the ballast water and residuals on board, treat the ballast water in an environmentally sound and approved manner, or return to sea to conduct a ballast water exchange. In addition, 100% of ballast water reporting forms were screened to assess ballast water history, compliance, voyage information and proposed discharge location. The BWWG anticipates continued high ship compliance rates for the 2009 navigation season."

Of the 367 ocean vessels entering the System in 2008, only three vessels (less than one percent) weren't required to submit to a physical ballast tank inspection but were shown to be in compliance by jointly-approved administrative methods. Additionally, 6704 of 6983 ballast tanks or 96 percent were inspected compared to 78 percent in 2007. Ninety-seven ballast tanks on 63 ships were issued a "Letter of Retention" requiring the ships to retain the ballast water in those tanks compared with 46 ships which received such letters in 2007. Of the 97 ballast tanks out of compliance, less than a third of those were considered to be "high risk" for potentially carrying invasive species and more than two thirds were considered"low risk" for any one of a number of reasons. These reasons include the fact that the fresh water may have been taken on at a shore side facility for cooling or potable water stores but were still connected in some way to the ships ballast water systems. The overall ballast tank compliance rate improved in 2008 to 98.6 percent, up from 95% in 2007.

The report goes on to conclude that joint U.S.-Canadian federal regulation and enforcement rather than a patchwork quilt of state and provincial regulations is the only way to protect the Great Lakes from the threat of non-indigenous, invasive species. The BWWG report is unambiguous in saying, " For any regulatory regime to be effective, all the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway must be treated as a single system. The only way to ensure consistent ballast discharge regulations across the Great Lakes Seaway System is to have strong, federally-mandated standards managed by unified federal agency coordination between Canada and the U.S.  A patchwork of state or province led regulatory ballast water regimes within the Great Lakes Seaway increases the legal, operational and administrative burden of inconsistent regulations and negatively impacts ship compliance and operation. Even worse, is that this suite of regulations would effectively deter ships from transiting or completing loading/unloading operations in some state waters. The current high-effectiveness of ballast water exchange coupled with the BWWG’s aggressive enforcement of current regulations and the high industry compliance rate minimize the urgency for state involvement in ballast water regulation. Further impediments to ship trade will make the shipping industry and the associated economic stimulus even less viable in the future."