LSProject: Ballast Water Discharge Permit Updates

Invasive species are arguably one of the biggest—and most expensive—issues facing Lake Superior and the Great Lakes today. In recent years, significant progress has been made to curb the many different ways that invasive species enter and travel around the Great Lakes, including regulating ballast water discharge from ships. This is the water that ships pick up or release as their loading or offloading cargo—and it’s been a vector for species such as round goby and zebra and quagga mussels to enter into the Great Lakes and wreck havoc on the ecosystem. In this edition of the Lake Superior Project, we speak with Dale Bergeron, maritime transportation expert for Minnesota Sea Grant in Duluth, and Beth Gawrys of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency about the recent update of MPCA State Disposal System Ballast Water Discharge General Permit and what it means for shipping and invasive species on Lake Superior.

Learn more or comment on the MPCA's State Disposal System Ballast Water Discharge General Permit.