Bluewater Network
On October 25, 1994, a radar-equipped Coast Guard plane detected a long oil slick trailing behind the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Sovereign of the Seas as it approached the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
A subsequent criminal investigation of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. (RCC), revealed that several of the company's ships had been routinely dumping oil and hazardous chemicals into US ports and coastal waters. RCC had falsified records required under US and international law and had lied to Coast Guard officials to cover up these crimes.
In July 1999, Royal Caribbean pled guilty to 21 felonies and was ordered to pay $18 million in fines. In June 1998, RCC pled guilty to an additional nine counts of similar offenses in Puerto Rico and Florida, and agreed to pay a $9 million fine.
Since 1993, six other cruise lines have been found guilty of polluting US coastal waters and have paid more than $31 million in fines.
This flagrant disregard of environmental laws has prompted Bluewater Network to launch a campaign targeting the $12 billion-a-year cruise ship industry. The campaign will work to strengthen US and state laws to prevent cruise ships from destroying our marine environment. Bluewater will work with the EPA and Coast Guard to monitor the industry's compliance with existing laws.
Bluewater is working to get bills introduced in key coastal states to require that cruise ships provide state environmental agencies with details about all pollutants discharged into state waters and all hazardous wastes offloaded in ports. Bluewater is also petitioning EPA Administrator Carol Browner to repeal the cruise ship industry's exemption from the Clean Water Act. The exemption allows cruise ships to discharge sewage and "gray water" (water from shower and sink drains, which often contains toxic chemicals).
What You Can Do Write Browner [EPA, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460] expressing your support for Bluewater's petition to remove the gray water exemption. For more information, see Bluewater's web site at www.earthisland.org/bw or contact Kira Schmidt at kiraschmidt@earthisland.org.
Cruise Ships: Bluewater's Newest Campaign