DA, Coast Guard announce HAL Plea Agreement
Coast Guard 17th District Commander Rear Adm. James Olson, left, and Timothy Burgess, United States Attorney for the District of Alaska announced that HAL Maritime Ltd, an operating company of Holland America Line, agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges arising from the negligent discharge of 20,000 gallons of untreated sewage into Juneau harbor from the cruise ship Ryndam Aug. 17, 2002. (Official U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Thomas McKenzie)
Alaska Governor Signs Cruise Bill
Gov. Tony Knowles signed a bill that makes Alaska the first state to regulate water pollution from cruise ships. "For the first time we'll know what the huge and growing cruise ship industry is putting into our air and water, and we'll be able to hold its vessels accountable if they pollute," the governor said in a ceremony at Juneau harbor. He said the bill, which he championed, had strong public backing. "Don't ever doubt it. The bill, which affects ships capable of carrying 50 or more overnight passengers, sets up a monitoring and sampling program for water and air emissions and solid waste. It targets treated sewage and gray water, or runoff from sinks, showers, kitchens, laundries and other non-sewage sources.
Alaska Files Civil Suit Against Royal Caribbean
Alaska filed a civil suit on Aug. 13 against Royal Caribbean Cruises, accusing the company of dumping oil and other hazardous wastes into state waters after the firm pleaded guilty to federal criminal pollution charges. Royal Caribbean pleaded guilty last month and was fined $18 million for 21 felony counts of violating federal water pollution laws in areas ranging from the Caribbean to Alaska’s Inside Passage. Attorney General Bruce Botelho said the state filed a civil case in Superior Court in Juneau because Royal Caribbean’s previous guilty pleas precluded Alaska from lodging its own criminal case against the firm for dumping oil, photo chemicals and other wastes into Juneau’s harbor and other state waters.
Pollution Response Team to Conduct Training in Juneau
A multi-agency pollution response training event will be conducted in the Juneau area during this week from May 13-15. The exercise is being coordinated under the Preparedness for Response Exercise Program, which has established requirements for periodically exercising oil spill response contingency plans throughout the country. A joint exercise team, consisting of local oil spill response planners, has been meeting to plan this exercise since January. A specialized team of Coast Guard exercise planners from the National Strike Force Coordination Center in North Carolina facilitated the team throughout the planning process. The Juneau Delta Western facility volunteered to participate as the lead industry planner for the exercise.
