U.S. cruise ships use Canada as a "toilet" for discharging polluting garbage.
Canada's lax regulations have facilitated the discharge of toxic chemicals and wastewater by U.S. cruise ships to Alaska near British Columbia.
For years, many Americans have taken cruise ships to Alaska during the holidays.
But according to a new study, a journey to these pristine areas, including a two- to three-day voyage along Canada's west coast, leaves traces of toxic waste, including within marine protected areas (MPAs).
According to a report by environmental groups Stand.earth and West Coast, it is estimated that more than 31 billion liters (8.5 billion gallons) of pollution are emitted annually by cruise ships on their way to and from Alaska to and from Canada's west coast.
Canadian shipping activist Anna Barford said: "Treating Canada like a toilet is an ill-motive. ”
According to a March 2022 report by the World Wide Fund for Nature in Canada, ships generate 147 billion litres of hazardous waste per year along Canada's 151,019 miles (243,042 kilometers) of coastline, the equivalent of 59,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Based on data from more than 5,000 vessels, the report found that cruise ships were the biggest polluters, though they accounted for only 2 percent of the analyzed sea traffic.
Cruise ship contamination includes large amounts of toxic sewage from toilets, grey water from sinks, showers and laundry rooms, and bilge water – oily liquids collected at the bottom of boats. To date, the largest source of contamination identified comes from so-called scrubbers – devices installed for the removal of exhaust gases (such as sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides) as well as particulate matter from heavy marine oils used as bunker fuels. Scrubbers produce acidic wastewater containing chemical mixtures.
According to Stand.earth and WCEL, on a week-long trip to Alaska and back along the Canadian coast, a cruise ship will generate nearly 200 million litres of waste from scrubbers. While ships can decide whether to discharge at sea or in port, most waste from scrubbers is dumped when it is generated.
Because Canada's federal dumping regulations are not as strict as U.S. laws, and cruise ships to and from Alaska are special, many cruise ships use Canada as a toilet.
With more than 6,000 square kilometers (2,300 square miles) of marine habitat protected in the U.S. Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound near the Canadian border, cruise ships to and from Alaska dump pollutants in Canada.
In April 2022, Canada announced new measures to limit grey water and sewage discharge from cruise ships operating in Canadian waters.
But these measures are not strict enough, and some coastal communities worry that as cruise ship traffic increases, so does the threat to their waters.
More Canadians are demanding stricter enforcement regulations from the government before cruise ship pollution can be addressed.
Canadians don't want to be America's trash "toilet."
