S.S. Badger Should Clean Up Its Act Now, Not in Two Years

By Susan Harley, Michigan Policy Director The coal-fired ferry S.S. Badger will be allowed to continuing dumping toxic coal ash into Lake Michigan for another two years, according to a proposed consent decree filed by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 22nd, 2013. Unfortunately for the Great Lakes and the health of Michiganders, that’s two years too long. Each day the ferry dumps over four tons of toxic coal ash as it crosses Lake Michigan – that’s 509 tons of pollution every year.  This coal ash contains arsenic, mercury, lead, selenium and other pollutants, which can harm humans and wildlife.  With a fish advisory for mercury on all of our Great Lakes and inland lakes and streams, we can’t afford to wait two more years. EPA’s proposed consent decree requires the S.S. Badger to pay $25,000 in fines for releasing too much mercury into the Lake, which is a good thing.  But at the same time, the agreement would allow the ship to continue to dump toxic ash into the Lake as long as the total amount is reduced by only 15% per year before phasing-out the practice by the end of the ferry’s 2014 sailing season. That means the Badger can dump 433 tons of ash this year and 368 tons in 2014. The proposed consent decree seems positive, if only on the surface. Unfortunately, it neglects an important fact - the S.S. Badger has had a special exemption since 2008, allowing them to dump ash while they “analyzed” options for an alternate fuel or ways to store of the ash onboard and dispose of it in a landfill.  Instead of pursuing commonsense solutions like converting to a clean diesel engine, the Badger’s owners have played politics and attempted to secure a free pass to pollute for years, while giving lip service to converting to compressed natural gas. Since it’s not clear whether the S.S. Badger’s owners, the Lake Michigan Carferry, have finally accepted that they must finally stop dumping ash, the EPA’s proposed consent agreement should have required more good-faith actions to show they are moving toward ending this toxic coal ash pollution. For example, a large, non-refundable deposit toward new ash-storing equipment or engine retrofit would have provided security that the ferry’s owners wouldn’t continue to seek an end-run around the decree’s requirements. Finally, EPA failed to make a compelling case as to why two more years was necessary. The Badger’s owners have had more than four years to stop dumping ash - why was it not feasible to force the ferry to stop dumping ash? Giving the S.S. Badger another two years to stop their polluting ways is just too long.