A potential showdown is brewing between state and federal agencies over the U.S. Coast Guard's longstanding practice of allowing freighters to wash unlimited amounts of coal and other cargo residues into the Great Lakes.
Each year, the Great Lakes shipping fleet washes upwards of two million pounds of cargo residue -- primarily coal, limestone and iron ore -- off freighters and into the lakes. The practice, used since the 1930s, prevents cargo residues from contaminating subsequent loads of other materials.
Federal law and an international treaty prohibit ships from dumping waste into the Great Lakes. But the practice has continued because Congress in 1993 approved a temporary policy, a loophole essentially, that allowed it on an interim basis. The State officials in Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania said in written comments that washing cargo residues into the lakes is illegal, causes water quality problems and should be banned.
"Minnesota solid waste rules prohibit the disposal of solid waste into waters of the state of Minnesota, including Lake Superior," said Paul Eger, assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, in a letter to the Coast Guard.
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