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EPA: Cruise Ships Still Polluting Air

Release Date: 8/24/2000
Contact Information: John Pavitt and Don Dossett
[email protected]
(907) 271-3688 and (206) 553-8257

August 24, 2000 - - - - - - - - - - 00-43


The Alaska office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that it has proposed a $55,000 penalty against Carnival Cruise Lines for violating Alaska clean air standards last summer. The agency also has issued Notices of Violation to Carnival and three other cruise lines for polluting Juneau air this past June.

Last February the EPA issued a Notice of Violation to Carnival and five other cruise lines for exceeding state emissions standards the previous summer. Today’s complaint cites violation of the state’s opacity standard on August 29, 1999, when an EPA inspector observed emissions from the vessel Jubilee as it was docked in Juneau.

The Notices of Violation were issued today to:

• Carnival Cruise Lines’s (Jubilee) for violations observed June 10, 2000 in Juneau
• Princess Cruises Inc. (Sky Princess), June 11, 2000, Juneau
• Celebrity Cruises Inc. (Galaxy), June 11, 2000, Juneau
• Holland America Line-Westours Inc Nieuw Amsterdam), June 12, 2000, Juneau

All the violations are of the state of Alaska’s Marine Vessel Emission Standards for “opacity,” which are readings of the smoke coming from a ship’s smokestacks. Zero percent opacity indicates no visible smoke while 100 percent indicates smoke so dense that it blocks visibility entirely. When EPA began its initiative to address cruise ship smoke in 1999, the state of Alaska was not able to enforce these provisions of state law due to lack of funding for the program. Since July, the State has been receiving and reviewing opacity inspections conducted by contractors. EPA’s Notices of Violation address violations discovered by EPA in June.

Violations of these state emission limits also violate the federal Clean Air Act and are subject to penalties of up to $27,500 per day for each violation.

“Polluting the very environment from which these companies profit is completely unacceptable to Alaskans,” said Marcia Combes, Director of EPA’s Alaska Office. “This just can’t continue.”

“We’re monitoring the ships and if we find they’re breaking the law, we’ll continue to take strong action. But it’s clear that the people of Alaska demand that the cruise ship companies obey pollution laws rather than break them.”

The opacity of smoke is a function of the efficiencies of boilers and engines in combusting fuel and contains particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and volatile organic compounds. When inhaled, particulate matter can accumulate in the respiratory system and can aggravate or cause symptoms of respiratory disease such as asthma.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is leading an Alaska Cruise Ship Initiative with representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, EPA, the Southeast Conference, the public, and the cruise ship industry to develop voluntary measures to address pollution problems associated with cruise ships.