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August 7, 2007 Contact: Allegra
Cangelosi Northeast-Midwest
Institute (202) 464-4007 Visible Progress
Toward Battling Invasive Species in the Great Lakes: Five Applicants
Respond to Offer of Ballast Treatment Testing Washington,
D.C. –Aquatic pest species, a top environmental problem in the Great
Lakes and elsewhere, threaten to permanently damage the nation’s water
resources. Ballast discharges from commercial vessels are the leading source
of aquatic pest species in the Great Lakes and other United States
waters. The Great Ships Initiative, a collaborative effort to end the
problem of ship-mediated invasive species in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
Seaway System, offered preliminary research services to qualified vendors of
treatment systems designed to thwart pest species before they reach the Great
Lakes. Five qualified applicants responded by the submission deadline
yesterday. Testing services will be awarded by September 17, 2007. Managed by the Northeast-Midwest
Institute, a non-profit research organization, and supported by federal and
Great Lakes Ports dollars, the initiative’s immediate objectives are to
increase monitoring of Great Lakes ports, and accelerate the identification,
verification and use of ballast treatment tools. Ballast treatment is
considered the best solution, but candidate systems are difficult to assess for
performance and durability in the ship-board environment. The
preliminary GSI research services will be performed for the dual purpose of
trialing GSI project review and equipment evaluation protocols, and providing
usable information on treatment system performance. The GSI will award
bench-scale testing services to up to two candidate treatment services, and
full-scale testing services at the GSI shore-based test facility to one
candidate treatment system. The
House of Representatives earlier this month approved $1 million for the
GSI’s ballast water research in next year’s transportation
appropriations bill, at the request of Rep. Dave Obey (D-WI). The bill must now
be approved by the Senate and signed by the President to become law. “We
are very encouraged that the GSI fills a useful niche in the overall effort to
make ballast treatment a routine and effective means of preventing new
ship-borne pests in the Great Lakes and elsewhere,” said Allegra
Cangelosi, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute, who is
responsible for overall GSI leadership. For
more information about the GSI and the solicitation offering research services,
go to www.greatshipsinitiative.org;
for more information about the Northeast-Midwest Institute, go to www.nemw.org. The Northeast-Midwest Institute is a Washington-based,
private, non-profit, and non-partisan research organization dedicated to
economic vitality, environmental quality, and regional equity for Northeast and
Midwest states. Allegra
Cangelosi |