Friends of the Earth Sues EPA Over Ship Pollution

Friends of the Earth Sues EPA Over Ship Pollution



2007 September -   Friends of the Earth is suing 
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, for failing to meet a 
deadline to regulate air pollution from large ships. The federal agency 
recently postponed indefinitely its commitment to set emissions standards 
for ship engines. 
On Wednesday, the environmental group sued the EPA in federal district 
court in Washington, DC to force the agency to impose limits on emissions. 

"Air quality in port cities like Seattle and Oakland takes a beating every 
time a large ship pulls into dock," said Teri Shore of Friends of the 
Earth in San Francisco. 
"The Bush EPA promised to act months ago to rein in ship smokestack 
pollution, but instead they have delayed regulations. Port communities are 
fed up and suffering, that's why we went to court today," she said. 
Just one cargo or cruise ship in port can pollute as much as 350,000 cars, 
and major ports receive hundreds of ship calls a month, says Shore, yet 
the air pollution from large ships is an environmental justice issue 
facing port communities nationwide. 
In Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Houston, pollution blows 
into neighborhoods where respiratory illness has become common. 
In addition, EPA has failed to regulate pollution from foreign-flagged 
ships, which make up more that 80 percent of port traffic from large 
ocean-going vessels. These vessels are exempt from meeting the air quality 
standards required by U.S. law. 
The EPA says it has been trying to establish worldwide maritime emissions 
standards by negotiating with the International Maritime Organization. 
"The EPA's recent proposal to the International Maritime Organization 
would deliver cleaner air to all Americans and reduce pollution at 
nation's ports domestically and internationally," the agency said in a 
statement. 
The statement said the agency expects to issue proposed rules for reducing 
emissions at domestic ports, but gave no date for the rulemaking. 
The ships burn dirty, asphalt-like bunker fuel that is thousands of times 
dirtier than diesel used by trucks or trains, and most operate with 
engines that pre-date even weak international standards. 
The bunker fuel contains sulfur, nitrogen, ash, and other substances that 
turn into sulfur oxide, nitrous oxide, and other pollutants and greenhouse 
gases when burned, Shore says. 
The ships steam into ports and sit, sometimes for days, awaiting their 
turn to dock and running their engines to generate electricity to operate 
ship systems. People who live near ports are exposed to high levels of 
diesel particulate matter and other pollutants, she says. 
Smokestack emissions from the global shipping fleet are projected to 
double in North America in the next decade, Friends of the Earth will 
argue, exposing communities to diesel exhaust that contributes to 
respiratory illness, cancer, heart disease, and premature death. 
Sarah Burt of the nonprofit, public interest law firm Earthjustice, which 
is representing the environmental group, says, "In Los Angeles alone, the 
ships in port spew more pollution than the metro area's six million cars 
combined." 
"Residents of nearby neighborhoods have high rates of respiratory illness 
and the region's highest cancer risk," said Burt. "We're taking action 
today to fix this health hazard." 
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to establish regulations to reduce air 
pollution from non-automobile engines that significantly contribute to 
pollution in areas with poor air quality. 
EPA committed to the April 2007 deadline to regulate ocean-going vessel 
emissions in a 2003 Final Rule approved by the Washington, DC, Circuit 
Court of Appeals. This was in response to a previous lawsuit by Friends of 
the Earth and Earthjustice challenging lack of agency action on pollution 
from large ocean-going vessels. 
So far, the plaintiffs argue, the agency has relied on weak international 
standards that provide no air quality benefits in U.S. waters, partly 
because many of the ships operating here are registered in foreign 
countries that are not party to the relevant international agreements. 
A federal government review of international standards was recently 
delayed by nearly two years. 
Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, recently introduced the 
Marine Vessel Emissions Act of 2007 (SB 1499) that would require cleaner 
fuels and engines in all ocean-going vessels calling on U.S. ports. Also a 
California Democrat, Congresswoman Hilda Solis introduced the same 
legislation in the House of Representatives (HR 2548). 

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