MarEx Mailbag:

This week’s mailbag contains two letters, both referencing last week’s lead editorial entry.

In our first e-newsletter edition of the New Year, our lead editorial focused on the boiling pot represented by ballast water treatment (BWT) and specifically, the Balkanized approach which has developed over time by virtue of the void left by a slow federal response to the problem. In that piece, entitled, “Still Swimming Upstream: Invasive Species Battle Anything but Over,” we argued that individual states should get on board with the new, proposed U.S. Coast Guard BWT standard which mirrors the IMO benchmark which is already in place. As always, our readers bring good knowledge to the table and make some valid points. Read last week’s lead piece by clicking HERE. Or, just read on below to see what this week’s letter had to say.
 

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Joe,

Thanks for another great article and insight into the BWT saga.

I wanted to make a minor point in that the USCG efforts surrounding BWT really aren’t the underlying cause of the current Michigan vs Illinois litigation. Asian Carp were introduced into Arkansas catfish farms in the 1970’s by the farm operators on purpose, not by way of any maritime vessel ballast water. Some of the carp managed to escape and migrate into the waterways and up into the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal which connects to Lake Michigan.

While it is a bad situation, closing of the locks as requested would devastate the local maritime economy and also affect a significant amount of waterborne products and feedstocks to local refineries, etc… To their credit, the Feds have apparently sided with Illinois, at least temporarily.

Thanks for your time.

Best regards,

Steve Carr

MarEx Editor’s Remarks: This letter and the next point out the obvious by reminding all of us that the Asian Carp situation differs from ballast-borne invasive species issues. We can all agree on that. What I was pointing out was that the proliferation of these individual state’s actions are going to potentially drag this problem out for another decade. That cannot be denied. Here’s another letter:
 

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Dear MarEx:

I need to point out the actions taken by Michigan and other states to regulate ballast water treatment etc. are necessary because of a deliberate failure of federal authorities to take action. While the feds slept, 168 invasive species (+/-) made their way into the Great Lakes. Many by made canals but most via untreated ballast water. While certainly a well thought out federal program would be best, it never happened and there is no reason to think it will happen in the future.

The Asian Carp disaster coming up the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal (el.al) is another example of the feds happily dozing away while catastrophe becomes more certain. From the time they escaped the Mississippi fish farms they progressed up the various rivers leaving destruction in their wake. The warning was certainly clear. The economic impact of this fish in the lakes will be measured in the billions of dollars and it is irreversible. The only possible way (all the electric barriers having failed) to stop it is with dirt and rock....closing off the waterways entering Lake Michigan. Remember the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal (el.al) was originally built to allow Chicago to dump its sewage into the river system and not into Lake Michigan. The city had been dumping it into the lake for decades but finally made the connection between disease (drawing its drinking water from the lake) and sewage. I am not a wild-eyed environmentalist, but if the decision is between saving the fishery of the Great Lakes and the minor bulk barge traffic on Chicago River and canal system, let the dump trucks dump!

Name Withheld Upon Request

MarEx Editor’s Remarks: To the contrary. There is every reason to believe that we are finally headed down the right roads in terms of getting a national, unified – in fact, International! – standard into play. But, not if ten or more states continue to cry “states rights” simultaneously while imposing their – and I know you are probably beginning to hate this word – Balkanized rules into the mix. We can agree to applaud the actions that provided the impetus to finally get the federal government going on this. And, now, a proposed standard is on the verge of being approved. It’s time to get on board with it. As for Michigan, I said that I wouldn’t beat up on them individually in the editorial, but their logic in imposing their own BWT rules almost two years ago was badly flawed. And, it did absolutely no good whatsoever. Will they repeal this rule once the federal standard comes into force? No, probably not.