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Spring 2004 - V.19 N.1
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Key West Asks Cruise Ships to Stop Dumping from WaterWorld and Ohio.com

News Around the Lagoon

Costly New Septic Tanks Keep Nitrogen out of Water
Water Management District Uses Grove Land to Store Excess Water
Environmentalists Urge Action on Ship Ballast Water
Supreme Court Rules EPA can Overrule State in Clean Air Case
Halting Toxic Cleanups
Water the Oil of the 21st Century
New Gates Reduce Silt from Canals in Indian River County
Key West Asks Cruise Ships to Stop Dumping
Endangered Species Act may be in Danger
Manatee Deaths Drop Here, but Rise on West Coast
Conservation Groups Sue for EPA to Regulate Water Pollution in Florida
New Tag Aims to Help Protect Coral Reefs
Politics Trump Science
Chemical Industry Seeks Approval of Pesticides at Expense of Wildlife
On the Lagoon with Captain Rodney Smith

Key West's city commission has asked cruise ships that dock at this island to pump their wastewater into the local sewage system instead of dumping it offshore. Mayor Jimmy Weekly said water quality is critical to the sensitive ecosystem around the Florida Keys. Cruise ships dump thousands of gallons of wastewater into the ocean during a voyage. Federal authorities have pursued cruise ship pollution for years because of industry rapid growth and because a ship's passengers and crew can generate as much waste as a small city. Cruise ship wastes include toxins such as perchloroethylene from dry cleaning, benzene and toluene from paint and solvents and oily waste. Under requirements of the federal Clean Water Act, cruise ships can dump when they are at least three miles offshore. Locally, cruise ship companies pump out at least 12 miles offshore

Next Article: Endangered Species Act may be in Danger