New Report Documents Air Pollution Burden of Big Ships in Coastal Communities

Published on Oct 4, 2008 - 9:20:45 AM

By: Environmental Defense Fund

Washington, DC, October 3, 2008 - A new report released today shows that large ocean-going ships -- such as cruise ships and container ships -- in U.S. waters, are big pollution emitters. These large ships release dangerous diesel pollution that threatens the health of U.S. port communities, are a major source of urban smog pollution, and are one of the world's largest emitters of global warming gases.

The report by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), "Floating Smokestacks: A Call for Action to Clean Up Shipping Pollution," also examines pollution in the ports of the Lower Mississippi, Seattle/Tacoma, Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York/New Jersey, Houston/Galveston, and the Great Lakes.

The report recommends protective policy action at next week's pivotal meeting of the International Maritime Organization. This international body will meet to consider standards to significantly reduce pollution from these large ocean-going ships by requiring cleaner engines, pollution control technologies and cleaner fuel.

Ocean-going ships are powered by large diesel engines that run on an extremely dirty grade of fuel, called bunker fuel or residual fuel. It contains approximately 1,800 times the sulfur content of the U.S. diesel fuel standards for other major diesel engines.

"Large ocean-going ships are vital for international commerce, but they also are ‘floating smokestacks' that are big emitters of harmful air pollution," said Janea Scott, EDF senior attorney. "Next week's international meeting is critical in cleaning up the pollution from these big ships and navigating the way to healthier air for the millions of people who live in coastal communities."

The report analyzed the latest available data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2001) and found that large ocean-going ships in the United States emitted:

* Approximately 54,000 tons of particulate matter (PM 2.5), equivalent to the emissions from about 117 coal-fired power plants; PM 2.5 is a deadly form of air pollution associated with lung disease and other respiratory diseases.

* Approximately 745,000 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx), equivalent to the NOx emissions from 94 coal-fired power plants.

* Nearly 40% of all sulfur dioxide emitted by the transportation sector; sulfur dioxide can transform into harmful fine particles and can also fall back to the earth as acid rain.

* Ocean-going ships are responsible for about 3% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that cause climate change.

Currently, ocean-going vessels are subject only to weak international emissions standards. The clean air standards that apply to these high-polluting engines have lagged behind other major source categories in the transportation sector. Without strong regulations, pollution from these high-emitting engines will increase.

EDF's new report also recommends: 1) Establishing protective limits on pollution around America's coasts through cleaner fuel standards; 2) Addressing global warming pollution from ships; and 3) Taking actions to reduce or eliminate emissions from ships that are near or in ports by cutting idling emissions when these big ships are at dock.

Download the full report.

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