(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Waukesha’s pursuit of Lake Michigan water does not have to wait until state rules are adopted implementing a Great Lakes protection compact, state Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank says in a letter to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
In June, Barrett and Ald. Michael Murphy had asked Frank not to accept an application to divert Lake Michigan water outside of the Great Lakes drainage basin until state rules for reviewing the requests were in place. More
http://www.signtific.org/en/signals/influenza-pathogens-emerging-thawing-permafrost
Dear Sirs, Yesterday October 23 2009,the house passed h.r.3619 and seems to show that once again that previous legislation on ballast water passed by the house may have been just as Rep Oberstar has reportedly expressed “bullshit”. Being that they never seem to talk about human pathogens in ballast water, perhaps this is why the Senate can still consider this a states rights issue. As politicians wish to be treated with respect and decorum, history has proven that Senators can be for sale, and it only takes one Senator from a state that oil transportation and shipping of foreign goods plays an important part of their economy to hold ballast water regulations up on a states right issue.
Sincerely, Don Mitchel
Sad they still do not mention the human pathogens associated with ballast dumping.
From the House of Representative October 22
“Although there are many good provisions in this bill worth noting, I would like to talk briefly about a provision that was not included in this year’s bill, ballast water management.
As an environmentalist and a protector of our Great Lakes, I believe we must act quickly and properly on ballast water management. Although aquatic invasive species enter into our ecosystems through many different pathways, such as natural migration, attaching themselves to ships and aquaculture, the most common pathway is through ballast water.
Ballast water is pumped onboard a ship to control its stability at sea. Ships often take on ballast water at a foreign port and discharge it at their USA destination port. When a ship pumps harbor water into its ballast tanks, it usually also sucks up aquatic species from that harbor. When those ballast tanks are emptied, those often-dangerous species are introduced into a new ecosystem and they may perpetuate as an invasive species.
Since some ships are capable of holding millions of gallons of ballast water, the potential for spreading invasive species is unavoidable. Once an invasive species takes hold in a new environment, it has the ability to disrupt the balance of an ecosystem and cause significant environmental and economic harm.
The amount of harm caused to this Nation enters the tens of billions of dollars in damage each year. For example, zebra mussels have cost the various entities in the Great Lakes Basin an estimated $5 billion for expenses related to cleaning water-intake pipes, purchasing filtration equipment and so forth. Sea lamprey control measures in the Great Lakes cost approximately $10 million to $15 million annually. On top of these expenses, there is the cost of lost fisheries due to these invaders.
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For these reasons, combating aquatic invasive species is a central element of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration strategy and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to protect and restore the Great Lakes.
Last year, I worked closely with Chairman Oberstar to include a title on Ballast Water Management in the Coast Guard bill, which would have created a uniform national standard for ballast water treatment. The goal was to have no living organisms in ballast water discharged by ships after 2013.
Although I would have liked this bill to once again include a provision on ballast water management, I am cognizant that this provision may be one of the reasons this bill has been held up in the Senate. However, I believe Congress must act, and that there must be a uniform national standard. A patchwork of different State laws is untenable, especially in the Great Lakes where a ship may visit numerous ports in numerous different States, not to mention Canada.
Therefore, I look forward to working with the Chairman to address ballast water management in another bill very soon. By spending millions of dollars preventing aquatic invasive species from entering our waters now, we can avoid spending billions of dollars trying to control and manage them once they are here. The adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” may have never been more appropriate”
Dear Sirs, Yesterday October 22 2009,discussions about h.r.3619 in the House of Representatives seems to show that once again that previous legislation on ballast water passed by the house may have been as Rep Oberstar has reportedly expressed just “bullshit”. The following is from the House of Representatives discussion about again addressing ballast water with the latest Coast Guard Authorization Act.H.R.3619. “Lastly, I am concerned with our inability to include language that would establish uniform national standards for vessel discharges, including ballast water. I have spoken on numerous occasions with Mr. Oberstar, and I want to take particular note to thank Mr. Oberstar once again for his keen interest in solving this problem and bringing so many interested parties to the table. I know that Mr. Oberstar shares my concerns and that of many of my colleagues, both on the committee and in Congress, to address this issue through legislation this year. I thank him for his offer to work with us, and I look forward to bringing the bill to the floor in the very near future.”
Sincerely Don Mitchel