New rules help stop invasive species

MONTREAL — To see how the global nature of modern commerce affects the world in unintended ways, just take a look into the ballast tanks of today's oceangoing cargo vessels.

In the residual water and sediment dregs at the bottom of these tanks, uninvited hitchhikers catch rides to new ecosystems, often bringing with them dire consequences for indigenous aquatic life.

That the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and other North American waterways have suffered from an onslaught of non-native, invasive species is not breaking news. But this is: A new international ballast inspection regime offers real promise in keeping future invaders out of waters that comprise not only the world's largest freshwater ecosystem, but the major marine commerce corridor serving two nations.

"The place to protect the Great Lakes against invasive species is here in Montreal before they get into the Great Lakes," said Collister "Terry" Johnson Jr., administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp, which overseas the Seaway's American operations.

"Every ship has to go through this checkpoint, and if we do our job, we will dramatically and drastically reduce the risk that the Great Lakes face in the future from invasive species," Mr. Johnson said May 5 at St. Lambert Lock in Montreal.

Four agencies have joined forces to create a chokepoint at St. Lambert. Transport Canada and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., which runs operations in Canadian waters including 13 of the 15 locks, represent Canada. On the American side are the U.S. Coast Guard and Mr. Johnson's organization, SLSDC, which manages American Seaway facilities.

"We are sharing the resources of the four organizations to the best of our abilities," said Peter Burgess, marine specialist from SLSMC.

The arrival of the M/V Federal Kivalina, a 600-foot Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship, at St. Lambert offered opportunity for investigators from the four agencies to demonstrate their commitment to keeping new invasive species out of the Great Lakes.

The Federal Kivalina, owned and operated by Fednav Ltd., Canada's largest marine shipping company, was carrying a cargo of 28,008 metric tons of synthetic rutile sand from Australia to Ashtabula, Ohio, a port on Lake Erie 60 miles northeast of Cleveland.

New regulations adopted in March by the two Seaway corporations require all ships destined for the Great Lakes to flush ballast tanks with salt water at least 200 nautical miles offshore. The idea, ingeniously simple, is to use salt water to kill invaders lurking at the bottom of "empty" ballast tanks. Scientific studies have shown that seawater with salinity of 30 parts per thousand is highly effective in killing potential aquatic invaders.

"It's important to get on board and test the salinity to ensure that when they do come into the Great Lakes system that they will still be able to do cargo operations because their ballast water has been treated," Mr. Burgess said.

When a large ship is empty of cargo, the crew will fill the ballast tanks with water to keep the boat low in the water and stable. As the vessel loads or unloads cargo, the water in its ballast tanks is emptied or filled as needed. Thus, a ship's ability to load cargo is directly related to its ability to discharge ballast water, in which invasive species can hide, waiting to be released into a new environment.

Fully laden ships pump out their ballast tanks, usually leaving two to six inches of residual water and sediment at the bottom. A ship in this situation is designated as NOBOB, short for "no ballast on board." Inspectors are especially vigilant in targeting such vessels — testing for salinity confirms whether or not the tanks have actually been flushed. Such flushing was not previously required on NOBOBs.

Twice on its voyage, once in the Indian Ocean and again during its 24-day crossing of the Atlantic from South Africa to Baltimore, Federal Kivalina flushed its mostly empty ballast tanks with seawater. At St. Lambert, inspectors confirmed this by inspecting the ship's tanks for salinity, examining the logbooks and ocean charts that document when and where the flushing took place, and checking the vessel's ballast management plan.

Vessels found to have non-compliant ballast tanks are issued a letter of retention, preventing the ship from discharging any water from the affected tanks, which could compromise the ability to load cargo. Ship captains may return to the open ocean to perform the required salt water flush, an option that costs them time and money. Noncompliant vessels also may face fines of up to $36,625.

In the end, members of the bi-national partnership have great confidence in the arrangement's potential success.

Commander Timothy M. Cummins of the U.S. Coast Guard's ninth district in Cleveland, said that employing the four agencies to inspect ships makes sense.

"No one gives away their regulatory authority," Commander Cummins said. "We've had to co-opt each other's regulatory authority in order to cast a broader umbrella over this whole issue. We share a database; we share information on ships coming in. We work together as a group, a workforce multiplier, to get the most out of that."

Richard J. Corfe, SLSMC's president and CEO, said that collaboration between the two Seaway corporations has been consistent since 1959, when the Seaway was created.

"Collaboration is top-notch," Mr. Corfe said. "We collectively are doing everything we can to keep commerce moving and to protect the environment."

Coming up:

Part 2: A step-by-step look at the ballast water inspection of the M/V Federal Kivalina.

Part 3: The science of fighting invasive s and what the future holds.