The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate introduced identical bills to regulate the discharging of raw untreated sewage from cruise ships in U.S. waters. Previous legislation allowed cruise ships to discharge their untreated raw sewage and waste water only three miles from U.S. shore lines.
No dumping allowed!
There are currently 280 cruise ships that circumnavigate U.S. waters and discharge 1.2 million gallons of raw untreated wastewater a week. The new ban on discharging untreated waste water would extend to the the U.S. 12 mile zone that is currently in existence. The total ban would extend to the Great Lakes and all rivers in the U.S. The legislation would allow cruise lines to dump waste water only after it has been treated by advanced waste treatment procedures. This treatment would cover raw sewage, waste water, and bilge. The new legislation prohibits the dumping of incinerator ash as well. I’m not sure what cruise lines and our government were thinking prior to this new legislative effort. Do not cruise lines make their living by showing their guests pristine waters and sewage free beaches? And how could our government allow any type of discharging in our waters? Raw sewage on any beach is utterly disgusting and unsanitary. It’s amazing that more people are not getting sick by bathing in our oceans waters. This legislation needs to become global. The United Nations needs to enact a global waste water dumping ban – period. Cruise lines that make their livelihood off of clean waters need to stop dumping all of their waste into the oceans. This ban needs to include all commercial, and private vessels as well. All vessels need to return to port, and have their waste off loaded on land and treated. Just like an RV does. Imagine an RV dumping it’s waste 12 miles outside of major metro areas. The planet’s oceans are put at risk by this untreated dumping. It threatens oceanic wild life and human health. The oceans are not one giant toilet bowel.
John Vlahakis
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