GLIN==> 2008 Summary of Great Lakes Ballast Water Working Group

Attached is the 2008 Summary of Great Lakes Seaway Ballast Water Working Group Report.  Below, I included a link to the Ninth Coast Guard District's official blog containing additional ballast water information/links and a press release on the working group report.


Timothy M. Cummins, CDR
Deputy, Prevention Division
Ninth Coast Guard District
office: 216-902-6049
fax: 216-902-6059
Timothy.M.Cummins at uscg.mil 


Blog:  "Your Great Lakes Coast Guard" - www.uscgd9.blogspot.com    


GREAT LAKES BALLAST WATER WORKING GROUP RELEASES GREAT LAKES BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT REPORT  

CLEVELAND - The Great Lakes Ballast Water Working Group (BWWG) releases the Great Lakes Ballast Water Management Report. This report shows a notable increase in the number of ballast tank inspections of oceangoing commercial ships entering the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System from outside U.S. or Canadian waters.  

The 2008 report includes a marked improvement over the prior year's inspection program statistics in a number of areas, including ship compliance rates.  Some of those highlights are: 

*	99% of ships bound for the Great Lakes Seaway received a ballast tank exam compared to 74% from 2007.  
*	A total of 6704 ballast tanks, onboard 364 different ships, were sampled and had a 98.6% compliance rate compared to 95% in 2007.  
*	In addition, 100% of ballast water reporting forms were screened to assess ballast water history, compliance, voyage information and proposed discharge location.  
*	Ships with non-compliant ballast tanks were required to take one of several options: (1) retain the ballast water and residuals on board, (2) treat the ballast water in an environmentally sound and approved manner, or (3) conduct a ballast water exchange at sea.  

The BWWG meets regularly throughout the year to develop, enhance and coordinate bi-national enforcement and compliance efforts to reduce the introduction of aquatic invasive species via ballast water. This group includes representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Transportation's Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, Transport Canada, and the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation.     

For any ballast water regulatory regime to be effective, the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway must be treated as a single system.  Strong federal standards managed by unified federal agency coordination between Canada and the U.S. is the only way to ensure consistent ballast discharge regulations throughout this system.  A patchwork of state or provincial ballast water regulatory regimes throughout the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway increases legal, operational and administrative burdens, greatly increases the likelihood of inconsistent and/or conflicting regulations and negatively impacts compliance rates and ship operations.  Further, a suite of differing regulations could effectively bar ships from transiting or completing loading/unloading operations in certain state waters.

The BWWG anticipates continued high ship compliance rates for the 2009 navigation season.  

For additional inquiries, contact CDR Tim Cummins, through the Ninth Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office, at (216) 902-6020.



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