Letter to The Honorable John D. Rockefeller

Letter

November 9, 2011

The Honorable John D. Rockefeller

United States Senate

531 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Rockefeller:

I am writing today to express my strong opposition to language that was included in the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act, that would exempt "vessels of historic significance" from EPA regulation of discharge.

The amendment directly applies to the 58 year-old S.S. Badger car ferry, which is the last coal-fired ferry operating in the United States. As the ship sails from its home of Ludington, MI, to Manitowoc, WI, it dumps 509 tons of coal ash into Lake Michigan each year. The coal ash contains arsenic, lead, and mercury. All of these chemicals can cause cancer when consumed in drinking water, cause serious damage to fish populations, and poison fish that are part of our food supply.

Under an agreement negotiated between the owners of the SS Badger and the US EPA, the current EPA vessel general permit gives the SS Badger a December 2012 deadline to retrofit the ferry with a new boiler that would prevent further coal ash dumping. While the owners of the SS Badger had over four years to make upgrades to the ferry, it now appears that they have quietly been working to either extend this deadline or gain a permanent waiver from EPA regulation.

Lake Michigan is the primary source of drinking water for over 10 million people and is a key component of the $7 billion Great Lakes fishing industry. If the House language were to become law, the Badger will receive the permanent exemption from EPA regulation that its owners have been seeking and the ship will be allowed to continue polluting Lake Michigan.

I urge the Commerce Committee to oppose this effort to provide statutory protection for the Badger to continue dumping coal ash.

Sincerely,

Richard J Durbin

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