2/2/2012
By Tim Lundgren, Water Law Attorney
Algoma Central Corp., one of the largest owners and operators of Great Lakes vessels, is installing fresh water, exhaust gas scrubbers on six new vessels. These scrubbers will remove 97% of the vessels’ sulfur oxides emissions. The scrubber systems are a new technology from Wärtsilä Ship Power using fresh water recirculating in a closed-loop system.
Captured contaminants can be isolated and held for disposal at facilities in port, enabling zero-discharge operation when underway. Algoma is including the exhaust scrubbing system on all 6 of the new, more efficient vessels it is building for its Great Lakes fleet. Wärtsilä claims that the new vessels “will set new standards for environmentally sustainable shipping on the Great Lakes.” The scrubber systems enable ships to use lower cost, heavy fuel oils and still comply with new sulfur limits established by the International Maritime Organization and adopted by Canada and the U.S. Without such scrubbers, ships would have to burn more expensive diesel oil.
2/1/2012
By Tim Lundgren, Water Law Attorney
A new report, available on the Great Lakes Commission website, concludes that physical separation of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watersheds is the best long-term solution to prevent Asian carp and other invasive species from migrating between the waterbodies. The report provides three separation alternatives, with costs ranging from $3.2 billion to $9.5 billion. Another study undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not expected to be completed until 2015. The Corps has come under pressure to move its study along more expeditiously, and the release of this study will likely add fuel to that fire.
By Tim Lundgren, Water Law Attorney
U.S. EPA has issued a direct final rule to create an incentive for converting Great lakes steamships to diesel. The new rule allows steamships that convert to diesel to continue using cheaper (higher sulfur) fuels through 2025, despite new, more stringent fuel sulfur requirements that will otherwise apply to Great Lakes ships beginning in August 2012. The agency believes that the increased efficiencies gained with a diesel engine over a steam boiler will lead to a 34% decrease in sulfur oxide emissions, even with the higher sulfur fuels.
The freshwater environment of the Great Lakes allows much greater longevity for ships than that enjoyed by those operating in salt water. At present, there are thirteen U.S. flagged steamships still operating on the lakes. These steam ships are exempt from the federal fuel sulfur requirements. Because of this exemption, steamships that are not refitted will be able to continue burning cheaper, higher sulfur fuels than diesel-powered ships. In contrast, owners who convert their ships would be faced with the considerable cost of the conversion itself, followed by higher fuel costs going forward due to federal fuel sulfur requirements applicable to diesel engines. However, by providing what is in effect a regulatory reprieve on fuel sulfur requirements for ships that refit to diesel power, the EPA is hoping that the economics of efficiency will drive ship owners to refit their steam-powered vessels, thereby lowering sulfur oxide emissions on the lakes over the long term.
1/23/2012
By Tim Lundgren, Water Law Attorney
The DEQ’s Office of the Great Lakes announced that it has initiated the 2011 Ballast Water Reporting Program, authorized by Section 3103a (MCL 324.3103a) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, which was added in 2001. The program requires the DEQ to determine the following:
- whether ballast water management practices provided by the Shipping Federation of Canada are being complied with by all oceangoing vessels operating on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence waterway; and,
- whether ballast water management practices provided by the Lake Carriers’ Association and the Canadian Shipowners Association are being complied with by all non-oceangoing vessels operating on theGreat Lakes and the St. Lawrence waterway.
Any owner or operator not identified on the list of complying vessels, or any persons in the state who have contracts for the transportation of cargo with a vessel operator that is not on the list, are not eligible for new grants, loans or awards administered by the DEQ after March 1, 2012.
Ballast Water reporting forms may be submitted electronically. Details of the Ballast Water Reporting Program are available online.
By Tim Lundgren, Water Law Attorney
Community leaders in the Saginaw Bay area are contemplating establishing a Port Authority that would manage air, rail, and commercial shipping in the area and serve as a stimulus for local economic development. The only official Port Authority in the state is the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority. The Port of Detroit is an international deep-water port that operates one of the largest Foreign Trade Zones in the country. It is hoped that the Port Authority structure could facilitate building similar economic development engines elsewhere in the state. A Port Authority could coordinate multiple modes of transportation, improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of moving commercial traffic through the region.
11/27/2011
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
A month-long petition drive has commenced to ask Governor Snyder to actively support taking whatever steps are needed to encourage offshore wind in Michigan waters of the Great Lakes. The groups behind this effort include the Sierra Club, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, the West Michigan Jobs Group, Clean Water Action, the Ecology Center and the West Michigan Environmental Action Council. The goals include having the state define the respective roles of state and local government, raising revenue, allowing public participation in the permitting process, protecting the Great Lakes from adverse impacts, and creating a clear process for leasing Great Lakes bottomlands.
11/22/2011
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
Veolia Energy intends on using its investment in the Grand Rapids steam loop as a platform for other energy projects in the Great Lakes. It already monitors and manages a landfill gas project in Wisconsin from its downtown Grand Rapids control room. Now the company is pursuing coal or gasified cogeneration opportunities in Michigan and the Great Lake region, with healthcare facilities and college campuses as prime candidates. The company is also looking at wind and solar projects.
11/14/2011
By Tim Lundgren, Water Law Attorney
EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) will conduct a public teleconference on December 6, 2011 to receive an update on EPA’s strategic research directions, including a review of a draft Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan. A Federal Register announcement of the teleconference noted that EPA is leading an interagency Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to protect and restore the chemical, biological, and physical integrity of the Great Lakes. To guide the efforts of the GLRI, EPA and its Federal partners developed the comprehensive, multi-year Action Plan.
The agenda and other materials in support of the teleconference will be placed on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab in advance of the teleconference. Members of the public can submit comments for a federal advisory committee to consider as it develops advice for EPA. Members of the public wishing to provide comment should contact the Designated Federal Officer directly. Brief oral statements can be made at the teleconference written statements must be submitted by December 1. The SAB Panel website has links to the 54-page draft review report as well as the 41-page GLRI Action Plan and additional background.
10/31/2011
By Tim Lundgren, Water Law Attorney
Michigan’s Attorney General, Bill Schuette, is seeking to have the Supreme Court require the Army Corps of Engineers to install nets blocking carp migration through the Little Calumet and Grand Calumet Rivers, and require the Corps to expedite its study of permanent ecological separation between the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes, so that the part of the study focused on the Chicago Area Water would be finished in 18 months, rather than the projected 5 years.
On August 24, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit issued a ruling on the preliminary injunction request by Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, concluding that the lawsuit had “a good or even substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their public nuisance claim.” Despite the recognition of the threat posed by Asian carp, the Court denied the states’ request. The states then decided to appeal.
10/24/2011
The Michigan Port Collaborative, an organization of port communities uniting to grow and sustain a robust waterfront economy on the Great Lakes and along Michigan’s coastline, is holding a
one-day Summit in Lansing on October 26. The Summit will host a broad cross-section of Michigan’s maritime industry leaders and port representatives from throughout the state.
The agenda includes a discussion of the shipping industry’s new report on economic impacts of the maritime industry in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway system (see our
previous blog entry), Macomb County’s new blue economy initiative, and issues of common interest such as dredging shipping lanes in the lakes and facilitating the ability of cruise ships to cross the international border.
