Policy updated, but Cargo Sweeping is still allowed
September 30, 08 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
by Jeff Alexander | Source: The Muskegon Chronicle
Freighters may continue to wash unlimited quantities of coal, limestone and other dry cargo residues into the Great Lakes under a new federal policy.
The U.S. Coast Guard Monday finalized an interim policy that allows the long-standing but controversial — and possibly illegal — practice of washing dry cargo residues into the lakes to continue indefinitely. The policy enacted Monday replaces a 1998 interim policy.
The new policy requires shippers to keep records of where and when they wash cargo residuals into the lakes and the quantities involved. It also banned the practice, known as washdown or dry cargo sweeping, in 11 ecologically sensitive areas on the lakes.
