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08-16-2007, 07:45 PM
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/NEWS05/708160446/1007
Law on ballast treatment is upheld
August 16, 2007
BY TINA LAM
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A federal court judge dismissed a lawsuit by nine shipping companies and associations that had hoped to overturn a Michigan law requiring oceangoing ships to sanitize their ballast water to prevent the introduction of invasive species.
U.S. District Judge John Feikens ruled Wednesday that Michigan's law is constitutional.
Michigan was the first Great Lakes state to pass a law requiring shipping companies to treat the ballast water used to balance their ships as they make their way to Great Lakes ports. The law took effect Jan. 1 and requires companies get permits to show what method will be used to treat the water.
Many invasive species, including round gobies and zebra mussels, are thought to have arrived in ballast water. Companies and governments have spent millions of dollars to try to repair their damage.
"We think this is a great ruling," said Shannon Fisk, staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which joined the state as a defendant. "It recognizes the ability of states to take steps to protect their waters from aquatic invasive species."
A spokesman for the shipping firms could not immediately be reached for comment.
Several other states are considering similar measures, but some were awaiting the outcome of the lawsuit in Michigan before taking action. Congress also is mulling legislation requiring treatment of ballast water, but the legislation wouldn't take effect until 2012.
Feikens' ruling means Michigan is free to act on its own.
Law on ballast treatment is upheld
August 16, 2007
BY TINA LAM
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A federal court judge dismissed a lawsuit by nine shipping companies and associations that had hoped to overturn a Michigan law requiring oceangoing ships to sanitize their ballast water to prevent the introduction of invasive species.
U.S. District Judge John Feikens ruled Wednesday that Michigan's law is constitutional.
Michigan was the first Great Lakes state to pass a law requiring shipping companies to treat the ballast water used to balance their ships as they make their way to Great Lakes ports. The law took effect Jan. 1 and requires companies get permits to show what method will be used to treat the water.
Many invasive species, including round gobies and zebra mussels, are thought to have arrived in ballast water. Companies and governments have spent millions of dollars to try to repair their damage.
"We think this is a great ruling," said Shannon Fisk, staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which joined the state as a defendant. "It recognizes the ability of states to take steps to protect their waters from aquatic invasive species."
A spokesman for the shipping firms could not immediately be reached for comment.
Several other states are considering similar measures, but some were awaiting the outcome of the lawsuit in Michigan before taking action. Congress also is mulling legislation requiring treatment of ballast water, but the legislation wouldn't take effect until 2012.
Feikens' ruling means Michigan is free to act on its own.