Great Lakes States take heart, and action! There is now no excuse for not passing ballast laws to protect the region from invasive species. A federal court dismissed a lawsuit brought by shipping companies in an attempt to reverse a Michigan law requiring them to either not discharge ballast water or use approved methods to treat it before releasing it into Lake Michigan. The state is the first in the region to enact a ballast law.
“Michigan did take action because we could no longer wait,” said Robert McCann, spokesman for Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality. “The science says we are at the tipping point right now, so many invasives are already in the lakes we can’t allow more before we say ‘enough is enough’.”
Invasive species are thought to travel into the Great Lakes in the ballast water upon ocean going vessels. They wreak havoc on the fresh water ecology and cost state economies millions.
Michigan passed its ballast law in 2005, but didn’t make it effective until this year to allow shippers time to comply. Nearby states watched uneasily to see what would happen when the law took effect this past spring. The shippers lodged a lawsuit but not an injunction so the permit process moved forward. The ships applied for and the state granted the permits. Another aspect of the law required the head of the DEQ to extend an invitation to surrounding states to collaborate and pass similar laws, which he did, but so far no other state has reached for the gauntlet.
“For it to have an effect it will take a regional effort. Ballast discharged there [in other lakes] affects our waters as well,” McCann says.
The court’s decision is one more sign to Congress that they should remove the language from the Ballast Bill of 2007 that would preempt state’s rights to enact their own ballast laws. This would completely liberate states in the region to take charge of their own property and become stewards for one of our nation’s precious resources. The problem is affecting the region economically as well and each state should have the wherewithal to protect itself.
“There is a vested interest for all of us to make sure we are taking care of this problem,” said McCann.
Related posts:
- Wisconsin Joins Michigan In Ballast Battle
- Leave No Lake Behind
- Minnesota Considering Ballast Law
- Ballast Battle Lines Drawn
- Michigan’s Ballast Law Passes another Test