Alaska Cruise Ships Sewage

Commercial Passenger Vessel Environmental Compliance Program.

Alaska cruise ships sewage. Senate Bill 3 addressed the expiration of the Best Management Practices alternative to issuing a permit for small cruise ships and state ferries between 50 and 249 lower berths. The Mountain Point wastewater treatment plant run by Ketchikans borough is allowed to put out more than 10 times as much as cruise ship systems. Somecruise ships are permitted to dump while docked at port.

On some cruise ships especially many of those that travel in Alaskan waters sewage is treated using Advanced Wastewater Treatment AWT systems that generally provide improved screening treatment disinfection and sludge processing as compared with traditional MSDs marine sanitation devices. Alaska law requires that the owner or operator of a small commercial passenger vessel 50 to 249 overnight passengers determined by the number of lower berths registered under the commercial passenger vessel environmental compliance cpvec program may not discharge treated sewage graywater and other wastewater in alaska waters unless the. The EPA sampled wastewater from four cruise ships that operated in Alaska during the summer of 2004.

The proposed regulation updates PDF were made available for a 30 day comment period. Michelle Bonnet Hale the former director of the Division of Water in the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation DEC said it would be a step backward to require ships to hook up to community-based systems as some have suggested. Its the latter scrubber washwater that may be the discharge of most concern.

Forty large cruise ships operated in Alaska in 2019 of those twenty four ships were authorized to discharge treated wastewater in Alaska and eighteen ships discharged treated wastewater and conducted sampling. It must be done as per the international maritime laws. Mostcruise ships are permitted by Alaskas Department of Environmental Conservation DEC to dump treated wastewater while moving at 6 knots or faster anywhere anytime in Alaska.

Brown is a Haines resident with a degree in Natural Resources Management. Wastewater treatment permits. The sewage on the cruise ship includes the wastewater from the bathrooms toilets urinals medical premises and other similar facilities.

All cruise ships have wastewater treatment systems on board for their gray and black water. While cruise ships have had a significant impact on Juneaus treatment system most of their wastewater goes elsewhere. Table 1 lists wastewater treatment systems onboard large cruise ships and 2019 authorized discharges in Alaska.