TRAVERSE CITY (AP) --
Commercial ships must dump ballast water at sea or rinse their tanks if empty under a new federal permit designed to prevent invasive foreign species from entering U.S. waters. The Environmental Protection Agency includes the requirement in a new general permit dealing with 26 types of ship discharges that becomes effective Friday. It covers an estimated 61,000 domestic ships and 8,000 foreign-flagged vessels. EPA issued the permit under a court order. Previously, the agency had exempted certain discharges from pollution control requirements of the 1972 Clean Water Act. Environmentalists wanted the EPA to require onboard sterilization of ballast water to kill foreign organisms that could infest U.S. Waters. The agency declined, but said it may impose such a requirement in the future if technologically feasible.
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