Cruise ships generate hundreds of thousands of gallons of human sewage and offer a host of amenities that create pollutants, including dry-cleaning, pools, hair salons, restaurants, photo processing, and spas.
In one week alone, a large cruise ship generates approximately:
Last Friday, October 30th, the oil tanker Dubai Star spilled an estimated 400-800 gallons of bunker fuel into San Francisco Bay almost two years to the day after the Cosco Busan spilled over 50,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the Bay. The bunker fuel spread out into a 4 mile long slick and has currently polluted at least six miles of Bay shoreline closing several
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Neesha Kulkarni, 202-222-0724, nkulkarni@foe.org
Marcie Keever, 415-544-0790 x223, mkeever@foe.org
Earlier today Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2009 with 28 other members of Congress signed on in support. Cruise ships are currently allowed to dump raw sewage and other pollutants just three nautical miles from our coasts. The Clean Cruise Ship Act will put a stop to the lax pollution disposal practices of the cruise industry and protect our coastal waters and oceans.
For several years, Friends of the Earth and various other environmental groups, air regulators, and public health organizations have worked with the EPA to create an “Emission Control Area” that would dramatically reduce air pollution from large ships – pollution that is responsible for serious health impacts including premature death, lung cancer, heart attacks, and respiratory illness.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Nick Berning, 202-222-0748 Ben Schreiber, 202-222-0752
Washington, D.C. -- The nomination of Joseph Pizarchik to the head the federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement advanced out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee today by voice vote.
Washington, D.C.—Erich Pica, a nationally recognized expert on dirty energy subsidies, is the new president of Friends of the Earth.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Marcie Keever, 415.544.0790 x223, mkeever@foe.org
Neesha Kulkarni, 202.222.0724, nkulkarni@foe.org
SAN FRANCISCO—Today Friends of the Earth issued the first-ever Cruise Ship Environmental Report Card, an assessment of the environmental and human health footprint of cruise lines and ships operating in the United States.
Our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes are places of wonder and beauty, and they are also economic engines that provide valuable jobs, food, recreation, energy resources, and tourism. However, these essential resources are currently managed by more than 140 different, and often conflicting, laws which can lead to poor management and even worse problems.
