This morning I read an interesting article regarding the cruise industry’s nasty practice of dumping raw sewage just three miles offshore and, sometimes, in state waters.
Fox News ran an article entitled "Federal Agencies Raise Alarm About Cruise Dumping." Its "fair and balanced" report included some disturbing facts:
"Raw sewage contains disease pathogens and toxins, impairs the respiratory functions in water life, and causes algae blooms. And cruise ships are dumping it just off shore, possibly washing up on the beach near where your family is vacationing."
A report released earlier this decade by the United States Government Accounting Office (GAO) determined that, from 1993 to 1998 alone, cruise ships were involved in 87 confirmed cases of discharges of wastes into U.S. waters, and have paid more than $30 million in fines to the government. The Department of Justice prosecuted Royal Caribbean in 1999, and the company pled guilty to a total of 21 felony counts in six U.S. jurisdictions, agreeing to pay a record $18 million in criminal fines.
The article points out that environmental groups finally have an administration and Congress that are agreeable to tackling the long standing problem of cruise ship water pollution.
I’m not usually a fan of Fox News because of its anti-consumer and conservative rants. But when even Fox News publishes a report like this, you know there is something stinky going on with the cruise industry.
Photo credit AP via FoxNews.com