In the late afternoon of Aug. 22 scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Park Service, crew of the ship Indiana Harbor and industry participants successfully concluded trials treating 1.8 million gallons of water on a Great Lakes freighter using a biocide developed to overcome the difficulties facing the freshwater fleet in the Great lakes: safety of crew and ship, mixing, pumping rates and corrosion concerns. The American Steamship Company has been a leader in looking for ways to meet current state and future federal regulation for treatment options for the Great Lakes fleet.
Aquatic invasive species cause $5.9 billion dollars of damage in the Great Lakes annually. The treatment of ballast water is required to prevent the spread of destructive aquatic invasive species such as zebra mussels and viral hemorrhagic septicemia. The American Steamship Company offered the 1,000-foot Indiana Harbor as a test platform to develop treatment.
The test marked the successful culmination of three years of research and equipment development initiated by the National Park Service to find solutions for ballast treatment and reduce the risk of new species invading the Great Lakes through ballast water, the number one vector for introductions. The USGS scientists responded to the National Park Service’s research needs.
The trials were a critical part of a larger effort to find emergency and long-term cost effective means to slow or stop new introductions. More than 60 percent of the invasive species introductions to the Great Lakes has come from ballast water discharged by ocean-going ships. There is a need to develop emergency treatment tools to help quarantine new infestations or slow the spread from problem areas and ballast water treatments on ship that are viable, effective and permanent. Invasive species are introduced into the Great Lakes ecosystem by ocean-going ships and can then be inadvertently spread by vessels operating within the confines of the Lakes.
“There’s more work to be done,” said Barnaby Watten, senior scientist at the USGS Leetown Science Center in Kearneysville, W. Va., “but this trial demonstrated the feasibility of our process, and we are on target with equipment development to deliver and mix these biocides and neutralizers. The Superior, Wisconsin-based Great Ships Initiative is independently conducting all of the tests to determine how well we killed all the targeted species in the tanks, and we will have to wait for their results. However, we feel confident we can adjust the system as we move towards full shipboard tests next year. Our shore station tests at GSI killed 98 percent of the biota tested with many of the test species succumbing within two hours. We’re hoping to get similar results in real world conditions.”
The NPS credits the problem solving of ASC employees in making the trial a success as the company has helped with all aspects of the study from logistical support to equipment installation and testing.
The National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation has been central to fundraising, and the group has received support for early development from the Great Lakes Fisheries Trust, the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The current work is being supported by EPA Great Lakes Recovery Act initiative under the auspices of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD), the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Great Ships Initiative. Environmental Protection Agency requirements for permits and chemical usage as a biocide have been supported by Clorox and Dow.
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