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Department of Ecology News Release - November 15, 2006
06-239
OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has fined Celebrity Cruises, Inc. of Miami, Fla., $100,000 for allowing the cruise ship Mercury to discharge more than a half million gallons of untreated wastewater into Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Records voluntarily maintained aboard the vessel showed that it discharged untreated wastewater 10 times over nine days in September and October, 2005. The discharges violated the state’s water-quality standards.
Ecology learned of the ship’s discharges during a September 2006 on-board inspection of the Mercury, which included a review of the vessel’s wastewater discharge records.
Ecology inspectors found records on the ship that contradicted a December 2005 letter from the vessel’s owners to Ecology saying the Mercury had not discharged wastewater in Washington during the 2005 cruise season.
An April 2004 agreement between Ecology, the NorthWest CruiseShip Association (NWCA) and the Port of Seattle, bans cruise-ship wastewater discharges into Washington waters, except from vessels using advanced treatment systems approved by Ecology. The Mercury did not have an Ecology-approved system when the discharges occurred. The agreement also authorizes Ecology to inspect wastewater treatment systems and associated records aboard NWCA member ships.
“Controlling cruise ship pollution is an important part of the state’s broad effort to protect and restore Puget Sound and the rest of our marine waters,” said Dave Peeler, manager of Ecology’s water quality program. “While Celebrity kept good records and cooperated in sharing this information, all of these city-sized ships must take great caution to adhere to the agreement and avoid illegal discharges in our state’s waters.”
“Celebrity Cruises takes full responsibility for these discharges and has taken corrective actions to prevent them in the future,” said Dan Hanrahan, president of Celebrity Cruises. “Part of our solution is an investment of well over $50 million in advanced wastewater purification systems on all of our ships, which makes waste water so clean that it is virtually drinking-water quality and far exceeds all existing standards in the world today, including those in the State of Washington. We sincerely regret that the locations of the discharges were the result of a misinterpretation regarding the reach of Washington state waters.”
The wastewater contained mostly untreated sink, shower and laundry water – commonly known as gray water -- and a small percentage of treated sewage from a Coast Guard-certified marine sanitation device. This type of waste water typically contains extremely high levels of fecal coliform bacteria and nutrients.
Fecal coliform pollution indicates pathogens are present that could contaminate shellfish beds and harm people who eat contaminated shellfish. In this case, no records of shellfish contamination were reported.
Nutrients can contribute to the growth of algae, which can lead to low oxygen levels in marine waters that sometimes suffocate marine life.
Ecology, NWCA and the Port of Seattle signed the 2004 memorandum of understanding in response to increasing cruise ship traffic. The agreement gives Washington’s marine waters greater protection than typically provided under federal and international law. Flows from advanced wastewater treatment systems have lower pollutant levels than conventional ship treatment or most land-based methods.
For more information about the memorandum, go to: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/wastewater/cruise_mou/index.html
The company has 30 days to apply to Ecology for relief from the penalty or appeal the fine to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board.
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Contact: Larry Altose, public information officer, 425-649-7009; pager 206-663-1785
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
