Wisconsin DNR taking helm on ships’ ballast
February 28, 08 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
By DAN EGAN | Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Tired of waiting for Congress to enact ballast rules to prevent the next zebra mussel from invading the Great Lakes, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is moving toward writing its own rules to control what overseas ships are allowed to dump into the world’s largest freshwater system.
In their memo to the resources board, [DNR] staff said they would be working closely with colleagues in Minnesota, which is pursuing similar rules, to ensure that the regulations are compatible.
Wisconsin DNR officials also informed the Natural Resources Board at its monthly meeting in Madison Tuesday that the agency is steaming ahead with a $6 million pilot program that would treat ballast water not on ships but in onshore wastewater facilities.
DNR officials said that Gov. Jim Doyle identified $6 million that could be used for the Wisconsin ports in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Superior.
Roger Larson, deputy director of the DNR Bureau of Watershed Management, said Milwaukee would be used as a test of the technology, with treatment starting in the 2009 shipping season.
