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The U.S. and Canada generally get along pretty well. A new environmental law is testing that relationship. It's creating tensions between Canada's government and American shippers that transport goods back and forth across the Great Lakes. From member station WCMU, Teresa Homsi reports.
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TERESA HOMSI, BYLINE: Thousands of ships pass between Lake Huron and Lake Superior every year, transporting materials like iron ore, limestone, coal and wheat.
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HOMSI: As freighters unload their cargo across the Great Lakes, they're also pumping in water onboard. This ballast water accounts for changing cargo loads and keeps ships stable. But ballast water can also be a vessel for invasive hitchhikers that can be accidentally pumped onboard as well and then dumped in a new location.
ROCHELLE STURTEVANT: I think our latest count is 195 invasive species in the Great Lakes.
HOMSI: Rochelle Sturtevant is an aquatic invasive species researcher with Michigan Sea Grant. She says lakers - or ships that don't leave the Great Lakes - are not expected to meet discharge standards that dictate how clean their ballast water should be.
STURTEVANT: They aren't going outside the Great Lakes, so they aren't bringing anything from outside. So that's the justification for them being exempt.
HOMSI: Now a Canadian rule aims to address this gap by requiring these ships to install systems that filter ballast water. Canada says the policy will prevent an estimated 34 invasive species from being introduced and spread in their waters. But not everyone is on board with the regulation.
JIM WEAKLEY: We believe this is a trade issue, not an environmental issue.
HOMSI: Jim Weakley is the president of the Lake Carriers' Association, which represents the interests of U.S. commercial shippers. He says the rule oversteps U.S. authorities and gives Canadian ships a trade advantage.
WEAKLEY: And it - the purpose is to take American exports off American ships and put them on Canadian ships.
HOMSI: David Reid is a retired scientist from the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab. He says American shippers have another concern about the rule.
DAVID REID: The main argument they have is it's not economically viable at this point to put treatment systems on their ships.
HOMSI: Reid says treatment systems may also not be a silver bullet for tackling invasive species because they're not always consistent in meeting discharge standards on saltwater ships. And on lakers, he says, researchers are not confident the systems can even handle Great Lakes water and extreme winter temperatures.
REID: The Canadians basically have said, as long as you use it and it's an approved system, we're going to assume that the discharge is compliant with our regulations. Otherwise, they would be shutting down the shipping industry half the time.
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HOMSI: Researchers are actively studying how ballast technology can be better tuned to fit lakers. But despite concerns over the technology's effectiveness, Canada has moved forward with its policy. This fall, a handful of American ships were not able to access Canadian ports because of the regulation. The rest of the fleet - about 50 lakers - have until 2030 to be up to code. In a statement, Canada's transportation department said it stands by the rule as, quote, "nondiscriminatory and in the public interest." The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission is examining whether the regulation violates international shipping codes and puts American shippers at a disadvantage. That investigation could lead to limiting or imposing fees on Canadian vessels at U.S. ports.
For NPR News, I'm Teresa Homsi in northern Michigan.
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