A greener future for Victoria's port; Other ports are co-operating on pollution, and the city can't afford to be left behind

Times Colonist (Victoria)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Page: A10
Section: Comment
Source: Times Colonist

Three West Coast ports have agreed to work together to curb pollution. Unfortunately, Victoria is not one of them.

Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver will work together to develop a joint strategy to reduce pollution in the Puget Sound and Strait of Georgia by reducing ship emissions.

The goal is to create a clean-air action plan that will target all sources of emissions, including cruise ships, container trucks, trains and cargo handlers.

But instead of turning away non-complying ships, the three ports will work with industry, customers and the public to develop a common standard for all the ports.

The common goal is cleaner, less-polluting ships ahead of international emission standards, which are expected to be introduced by the International Maritime Organization in 2011.

While Victoria's commercial traffic is tiny when compared to Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver, Victoria's share of cruise ship traffic is large.

According to the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, 163 cruise ships and 324,000 travellers will stop at the Ogden Point terminal during the 2007 season. On May 11, an estimated 12,000 eager cruise ship passengers disembarked here. Paul Servos, general manager of the harbour authority, estimated $1 million was spent over the 17-hour visit.

While cruise ship operators are regularly fined for their sewage, garbage and bilge dumping practices, environmental and consumer pressure will inevitably steer the industry toward lower emission standards and greener ports -- in other words, ports such as Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver.

The technology to reduce emissions is already out there. In a recent two-week stay in dry dock in the Esquimalt shipyard, the Holland America ship Zaandam was fitted with a $1.5-million scrubber system that uses seawater to remove virtually all sulphur oxide and a significant portion of particulate matter emissions. The sea water is then treated to remove harmful components.

Money from the work came from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Puget Sound Clean Air Authority, Environment Canada, the provincial Environment Ministry, the B.C. Clean Air Research Fund and the Port of Seattle.

There is clear, widespread interest in making cruise ships cleaner. Victoria would be well-advised to get on board.

Unfortunately, we are already lagging behind the competition. In San Francisco and Seattle, cruise ships plug into shore power and turn their engines off while docked. The Port of Seattle estimates this reduces cruise ship air emissions by about 30 per cent.

Seattle Commission president Bob Edwards says the reduction in emissions is equal to taking 1,100 cars of the road for a full year.

The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority has rejected installation of similar cabling at Ogden Point, claiming that power demand exceeds current capacity.

So our cruise ship-competitor, Seattle, has scored another green point -- and Victoria is forced to play catch up.