Great Lakes Seaway Ballast Water Working Group releases ballast water management report

CLEVELAND — The Great Lakes Seaway Ballast Water Working Group is releasing its 2010 summary report, with information on inspection procedures and compliance rates regarding ballast water management.

To view or download the full summary report, click here.

In 2010, 100% of vessels bound for the Great Lakes Seaway from outside the Exclusive Economic Zone received ballast tank exams, through physical sampling or administrative review, on each seaway transit. In total, 7,754 ballast tanks were assessed during 415 vessel transits.

The Great Lakes Seaway Ballast Water Working Group's mandate is to develop, enhance and coordinate binational compliance and enforcement efforts to reduce the introduction of aquatic invasive species via ships' ballast water. The BWWG is composed of the U.S. Coast Guard, Transport Canada-Marine Safety, the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation

For further information on the Great Lakes Ballast Water Program, please visit the following:

The Seaway Web site: http://www.greatlakes-seaway.com/en/environment/ballast-water/index.html
The NBIC Web site: http://invasions.si.edu/nbic/index.html
The USCG Web site: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg522/cg5224/bwm.asp
The Transport Canada Web site: http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/menu.htm

For more information, please contact Cmdr. Tim Cummins at 216-902-6049 or Lt. Charles Donaldson at 216-902-6051.

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