The Clean Ferry Myth

by Russell Long
Bluewater Network

For many years, Americans have had a love affair with ferryboats. Ferries not only relieve our frayed nerves after we've stewed in bumper-to-bumper traffic, but conventional wisdom says ferries also reduce congestion and air pollution by getting us out of our gas-guzzling cars.

Unfortunately, this romantic but unfounded notion recently has captivated several high-powered West Coast mayors. Joined by members of the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Task Force, they managed to push a proposal for the world's largest ferry service through the California Legislature with wake-jumping alacrity.

The proposed $2 billion system envisions a fleet of 120 large 5,000-horsepower catamaran ferryboats criss- crossing San Francisco Bay at speeds of up to 50 mph, starting as early as 2003. But if the Task Force members had done their homework, they would have learned that fast ferries create tremendous environmental and safety problems.

In fact, even the most modern ferries produce 10 times more pollution-per-passenger than recently built cars. They are 34 times more polluting than the natural-gas buses being built for many cities today. Automobiles have become far cleaner in the past quarter-century, emitting only six percent of the smog-forming pollutants they used to. Ferries, however, have managed to escape Clean Air Act requirements. Ferries use a dirtier type of diesel fuel than buses and their engines spew massive amounts of cancer-causing particulates and sulfur emissions. These pollutants, which peak during docking and loading operations, frequently wind up in densely populated neighborhoods inhabited by low-income, racially diverse people. Politicians often ignore problems of environmental justice. The Water Transit Task Force has ignored them as well.

The operation of diesel ferry engines would also dump cancer-causing dioxin into bay waters. Noise pollution and diesel fumes would annoy water recreationists and shoreline residents, destroying one of the last truly peaceful open spaces in the region.

San Francisco's Harbor Safety Committee, a government group replete with marine industry experts, warned that such an extensive ferry network would increase the risk of collisions with other vessels and oil spills in the bay. Windsurfers, kayakers, fishers, and marine mammals are also at risk of collisions.

Freighters and cruise ships operating in congested waterways often have a 15-mph speed limit - for good reason. It's difficult for a high-speed ferry's skipper to spot small objects when spray is hitting the windshield at 50 mph or when the weather is bad. On a foggy day in 1998, Maine's new ferry killed a young angler fishing from a boat in Yarmouth Harbor. In 1999, two pilot whales were killed near the Canary Islands by new high-speed ferries.

In addition to causing air pollution and safety problems, high-speed ferries churn up huge wakes that erode shorelines, damaging sensitive wetlands and wildlife habitat and endangering threatened mammals such as sea lions. Seattle's new high-speed ferry has caused such extensive waterfront damage that irate homeowners slap-ped the ferry operators with a lawsuit. A sympathetic judge ordered the ferry to cut its speed from 34 knots to 12 knots in certain areas.

To paraphrase Lewis Mumford, adding high-speed ferries to relieve road congestion is like loosening your belt to lose weight. While it might make you feel better, it makes no sense - especially if it means destroying the environment, too.

Russell Long, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of Bluewater Network in San Francisco. He is also a former America's Cup Skipper and Guinness recordholder as the fastest sailor in the world. A version of this article appeared in the San Francisco Examiner.

BWN vs Snowmobiles
At the urging of Bluewater Network, Reps. Bruce Vento (D-MN) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) sent a letter to the National Park Service asking that NPS lands be protected from snowmobile damage. The letter, cosigned by 36 congressmembers, argued that recreational snowmobile use has made it difficult for the NPS to preserve the nation's natural heritage and warned that "the resources and visitor experiences of our nation's parks are seriously threatened" by snowmobiles. To view the names of the cosigners, go to: http:www.earthisland.org/bw and click on the Newsroom.

BWN vs Jetskis
After a year-long campaign, BWN has convinced the NPS to consider banning jetskis from the Cape Cod National Seashore. So far, BWN has convinced 20 National Parks to ban jetskis from their lakes and rivers. If all else fails, BWN and the National Parks and Conservation Association will file suit to force the NPS to ban jetskis. In San Diego, BWN and Surfers Tired of Pollution stopped the International Jet Sports Boating Association's week-long world championship competition. The October competition would have released up to 9,000 gallons of raw fuel into the water.

Please join Bluewater Network, a coalition of citizens dedicated to reducing pollution and ecological damage from vehicles, vessels and craft. Your $30 membership includes a subscription to the award-winning Earth Island Journal. To receive our monthly e-mail news-letter/action alert, contact Bluewater Network, 300 Broadway, Suite 28, San Francisco, CA 94133, (415) 788-3666, e-mail: bluewater @earthisland.org, web: [www.earthisland.org/bw].