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| Hilo, Hawaii News, Sports, & Information |
Friday, November 27, 2009 |
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Posted: Friday, April 1st, 2005 5:28 AM HST
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Federal judge rules against EPA on dumping of ships' ballast water
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ A federal judge ruled today the government can no longer allow ships to dump without a permit any ballast water containing nonnative species that could harm local ecosystems.
U-S District Judge Susan Illston ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately repeal regulations exempting ship operators from having to obtain such permits.
Sarah Newkirk is a clean water advocate for the Washington, D-C-based Ocean Conservancy. She says the court decision will prevent a vast amount of pollutants from the shipping industry from entering U-S waters.
Invasive species are known to cause significant economic and environmental damage.
Marine species such as mollusks often are inadvertently transported in the ballast water of ships and discharged at ports far from their origins.
(Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
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