Groups challenge Alaska cruise ships regulation, say wastewater technology isn’t good enough

Groups challenge Alaska cruise ship waste permits

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Two environmental groups are taking state regulators to court in a dispute over the technology cruise ships use to treat their wastewater.

Earth Island Institute and Friends of the Earth say the Department of Environmental Conservation is not requiring cruise ships to used the best-available treatment technology, according to the Anchorage Daily News. A new state law requires ships receiving a new three-year permit to upgrade their wastewater treatment systems to the best-available technology, the groups say.

The environmental groups filed a notice this week that they plan to appeal the department’s decision to Superior Court in Juneau.

The Department of Environmental Conservation says the groups failed to prove that the treatment system they prefer is the best choice for all the ships.

The law the Alaska Legislature passed in 2009 was seen as a compromise between cruise industry critics who wanted tougher pollution standards and cruise industry supporters who argued there wasn’t adequate technology to retrofit all of the ships.

The law amended a ballot initiative approved by voters in 2006 that created new taxes and stringent environmental rules for the cruise industry. It gives cruise ship operators until the end of 2015 to comply with the initiative’s environmental rules.

But the law does require cruise ships in the interim to use a system that the DEC determines is the most technologically effective in treating its wastewater. It also has to be economically justifiable.

Information from: Anchorage Daily News, www.adn.com