Key West wants cruises to pump wastewater into sewage system
By Associated Press
Published January 9, 2004
KEY WEST - The City Commission wants cruise ships that dock in this island city to pump their wastewater into the local sewage system instead of dumping it offshore.
Mayor Jimmy Weekley said water quality is critical to the sensitive ecosystem around the Florida Keys, home to the nation's only tropical marine preserve.
"The U.S. Navy is willing to pump out, and cruise ships need to pump out," Weekley said Tuesday. "If cruise ships can't do that, maybe they should go somewhere else. It's a detriment to the environment."
The proposal, still subject to negotiation with cruise lines, calls for ships docking in Key West to pay 5 cents a gallon to pump into the sewage system.
Cruise ships dump thousands of gallons of wastewater into the ocean during a voyage. Under requirements of the federal Clean Water Act, ships can dump when they are at least 3 miles offshore. Locally, cruise ship companies dump at least 12 miles offshore, their representatives have said.
Many cruise ships use treatment systems that produce water clean enough to drink, so it doesn't make sense to put it into the municipal wastewater system, said Michael Crye, president of the International Council of Cruise Lines, an industry group. Ships without those advanced treatment systems still exceed the requirements of the Clean Water Act, and studies have shown that dumping under the act's guidelines has little or no impact on ocean water quality, Crye said Thursday.
If Key West officials adopt the proposal, it could be difficult to order cruise ships to refrain from releasing wastewater between a prior port and Key West, port director Raymond Archer said.
