Our Oceans at Risk

OUR OCEANS AT RISK

    Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am a Midwesterner by birth. I come from the flatlands of Illinois, cornfields and prairies. Frankly, it has meant I see things differently than others. I can still recall as a young boy the first time I saw an ocean. I was off to my brother's wedding in California, all of about 9 or 10 years old, and I got to see the Pacific Ocean. It was an amazing spectacle to me. I had never seen anything like it. The closest I had come to that was the Mississippi River. I developed a special attachment and passion of taking my family, as they grew up, to oceans on a regular basis, to beaches, and the great time you have together.

    I never reflected on the fact that the great, vast, mighty body of water, that ocean, might some day be vulnerable; it seemed so impenetrable, so vast, so diverse, so huge.

    This week in Washington, the Pew Oceans Commission will release its report. The chairman of that commission is an old friend of mine, a great public servant, Leon Panetta of California. I commend this report to everyone in the country, whether you live near an ocean, as most Americans do, or you are from the Midwest and a flatlander, as I am. It talks about a great resource of America and a great resource of the world which is in crisis, the great resource of the world which is in peril.

    The area of the ocean under United States jurisdiction spans 4.5 million square miles, more than any other single country. According to Jane Lubchenco, professor of Oregon State University, our ocean property as a nation is 23 percent larger than our Nation's land area, making our ocean the country's largest public domain.

    I met Professor Lubchenco last week in Italy at a seminar that focused on international global environmental issues. She spoke at length and in stark terms about what is happening to the oceans. Our ocean ecosystems are unique treasures, places where we can discover the mystery of life, work and vacation, and pursue scientific study. Losing the quality of our oceans and marine life that thrives in them would be a tremendous loss.

    In addition, damage to ocean ecosystems can cause significant damage to our economy, public health, and even our national security.

    As the Pew Commission reports, our oceans face a crisis due to contamination and failure to address problems over the years. Take, for example, this statistic. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that oil running off of our streets and driveways in America ultimately flows into the ocean, creating an Exxon-Valdez-size spill every 8 months. I was at Prince William Sound in Alaska after the Exxon Valdez spill, something I will never forget, going to tiny remote islands, seeing them literally covered with crude oil, seeing the wildlife that had been rescued, some of it perished almost immediately, and with others, valiant attempts were made to save them; 10.9 million gallons of crude oil dumped in Prince William Sound. That is how much oil we dump as a nation into the ocean every 8 months with the runoff from driveways and parking lots finding its way to streams and rivers and our oceans.

    These problems have tragic consequences. Many of our public beaches have been closed over the years due to high levels of harmful contamination. The United States Environmental Protection Agency about 8 or 9 years ago created a Web site which reported on ozone and the impact it would have on public health. It became increasingly popular as more and more parents with children facing asthma attacks went to this Web site to see if it was safe to send their kids to school. What was the ozone reading? Then, almost coincidentally, the EPA released information about beaches around America that had been closed because of contamination. That, too, became an extremely popular Web site. Families planning vacations and weekends would go to this Web site and find out whether the beach they wanted to visit would be open to the public or safe for bathing in.

    It is an interesting comment, is it not, in the world we live in, the Nation we live in, with all of our progress, that one of the sources of information we turn to most frequently is whether we can breathe the air or can expose our children to a beach or lake shore that might be contaminated.

    There is also a problem related to the fishing industry and its impact, the impact of the ocean contamination. There was a paper published in the May 15 issue of Scientific Journal, Nature, that reported 90 percent of all large fish—tuna, marlin, swordfish, shark, cod, and halibut—90 percent of those species are gone. Do you remember the fish orange roughy? I bet you do. In the last few years it was a pretty popular fish. Almost everywhere in America you would go to a restaurant and orange roughy was on the menu. Try to find it today. It has been fished to near extinction. They discovered where to fish for orange roughy on the coast of New Zealand and went to depths they had never been able to fish at before and successfully found the species. It was fished out. It turned out to be popular and no efforts were made to conserve it. As a consequence, you will be able to tell your children you once had a fish called orange roughy. It is not likely they will ever taste one.

    An article in the Washington Post also reports the significant fish shortages and how the fishing industry is close to collapsing in many parts of the United States and around the world. This week's U.S. News & World Report devotes its cover story to the problem of empty oceans.

    I will address one part of this problem, something we can do about it in a hurry. It relates to cruise ships.

    One of the major contributors to ocean pollution is the cruise ship industry, which in 2001 carried 8.4 million passengers in North America. I do not have anything against cruise ships—they provide many Americans ample opportunities to relax and learn about oceans and marine wildlife. However, they are exempt from critical regulations that would help protect the beautiful and inspiring oceans and marine wildlife that many cruise ships aim to present to travelers.

    I am going to give some data here that I think is incredibly shocking.

    According to EPA and industry data, a typical 3,000 passenger cruise ship each week generates 210,000 gallons of black water, which is raw sewage; 1 million gallons of gray water, included runoff from showers, sinks and dishwashers; 37,000 gallons of oily bilge water, which collects in the bottom of ships and contains oil and chemicals from engine maintenance that are toxic to marine life; more than eight tons of solid waste; millions of gallons of ballast water, which is brought into ships to facilitate balance and then released back into the ocean, containing potential invasive species; and toxic wastes including dry cleaning chemicals such as PERC and photoprocessing chemicals.

    These wastes are damaging to our oceans. Interestingly enough, any city in America which generated that kind of waste would never be allowed to dump it on the land or in an adjoining river. But if you happen to be a cruise ship that is traveling in the waters of America, you are virtually exempt from the Clean Water Act and you can dump, in certain locations within the oceans off the coasts of America, with virtual impunity, with one notable exception. The State of Alaska—thank goodness for them—has established much stricter standards than the Clean Water Act imposes on the cruise ship industry that does its business outside States around America.

    According to the organization Oceana, raw sewage can sicken and kill marine life, including corals, and contributes to algae blooms that cloud the water, reduce oxygen levels and kill fish. Furthermore, invasive species, those that are not native to the area where they are released in ballast water, can colonize new areas, and, in so doing, replace and harm local species. We have become painfully familiar with invasive species in the Great Lakes, and the government and industry are making efforts to address it. I am proud to be representing a state that adjoins that great Lake Michigan, but we know about Zebra Mussels and forms of eels that have been dumped in ballast water and invaded what was a sound marine life in the Great Lakes.

    Wastes from cruise ships can also affect human health. According to Oceana, the recent outbreaks of the Norwalk virus on cruise ships have sickened more than 3,000 passengers and crew, forcing many people to abandon their vacations early. The Norwalk virus is found in human waste and on hands and surfaces that may have had contact with it. It can be spread by shellfish contaminated by sewage from boats. In addition, wastes can wash up on our beaches and near our shoes, threatening people who work or vacation there.

    Despite the fact that cruise ships generate all of this waste, and are an identifiable source of pollution, they are exempted from the regulations that implement the Clean Water Act's point source permitting system. Indeed, cruise ships can dump raw, untreated sewage into the water once the ship is more than three miles off U.S. shores. They can also dump gray water and ballast water without a permit, even when they are docked at ports that are in U.S. waters. Finally, they are permitted to dump solid garbage into the ocean when they are at least 12 miles from the shore.

    This problem is not confined to our domestic cruise ship industry. According to a February 2000 GAO report, foreign-flagged cruise ships were involved in 87 confirmed illegal discharge cases in U.S. waters from 1993 to 1998.

    In August 2000, EPA issued a "Cruise ship White Paper," providing a blueprint for strengthening the laws regulating cruise ships. However, Congress has failed to act on this issue.

    We cannot delay any longer. that is why I will introduce legislation to strengthen the Clean Water Act and other relevant laws regarding the cruise ship industry.

    Specifically,the legislation I am preparing is based on ideas and recommendations generated by the EPA, GAO, and interest groups. Here is what it would do:
    Remove the exemption of cruise ships from existing Clean Water Act requirements;

    Ban the release of raw sewage anywhere in the ocean, and require treatment standards similar to Alaska's strict standards;

    Ban release of so-called "treated" wastes within a certain distance of our shores;

    Provide for adequate measures to prevent ballast waters from spreading invasive species;

    Provide for monitoring of compliance with these requirements and the availability of data for public review;

    Enable citizens to bring lawsuits against cruise ships, as provided under the Clean Water Act; and

    Increase resources for inspections and strengthen the inspection requirements.

    This is truly an international issue, but the United States must not only do its part, it must lead the way. I urge my colleagues to join me. First, read this Pew Oceans Commission report. It is an eye opener. It is a revelation. Wherever you live in the United States, you will value our oceans and you will come to understand the dangers they face.

    I also encourage my colleagues to join me by cosponsoring the legislation I am crafting. The oceans, that cover nearly 70 percent of our planet, cannot wait any longer.

    I yield the floor.

    Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.