[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 165 (Thursday, December 20, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8276-S8277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE S.S. BADGER

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, Chicagoans were asked in a recent poll to 
identify the one asset in the city of Chicago that meant the most to 
them. The overwhelming vote was for Lake Michigan--not surprising.
  Lake Michigan is the primary source of drinking water for more than 
10 million people--not just in my State of Illinois but in Wisconsin, 
Indiana, and Michigan. It supports a multibillion-dollar fishing 
industry that is important to local economies. And it is beautiful. It 
is a recreational asset for swimming, kayaking, boating, or just taking 
a walk along the beach. It is a gorgeous lake.
  I always look forward to getting up to Chicago. We have a condo that 
overlooks Lake Michigan that I consider to be a great place to sit and 
just look at this beautiful lake and what happens on it, whether I am 
drinking a cup of coffee in the morning with my wife or a glass of wine 
in the evening.
  But, unfortunately, the health of our great Lake Michigan is 
threatened every summer when a coal-burning ferry boat dumps tons of 
coal ash into the lake every day, all summer long.
  Meet the S.S. Badger. Many people have fond memories of this boat, 
the S.S. Badger, steaming from its homeport of Ludington, MI, to 
Manitowac, WI, every summer. But they need to be reminded of one thing: 
The S.S. Badger is the last coal-fired ferry in the United States, and 
there is a reason it is the last one.
  Every year, based on the estimates given to us by the company, this 
boat dumps 600-plus tons of coal ash into Lake Michigan--600-plus tons 
every year since 1953. That is their record. What does that do to Lake 
Michigan? In the 59 years the S.S. Badger has been in operation, it has 
discharged a conservative estimate of 35,400 tons of coal ash into Lake 
Michigan. That is enough to coat the entire floor of Lake Michigan with 
a layer of ash 2\1/2\ inches thick.
  A recent article in the Chicago Tribune did a comparison of the 
amount of coal ash discharged from the Badger to the dry cargo residue 
discharged by all other vessels operating on Lake Michigan. Here is 
what they found:
  Fifty U.S. ships and 70 Canadian ships on Lake Michigan are 
responsible for a combined total of 89 tons of solid waste dumped every 
year. That is 120 ships, 89 tons in a year. The Badger by itself is 
responsible for almost 6 times more waste than these 120 vessel 
combined, even when using the most conservative estimate of what the 
Badger dumps overboard during the course of a summer.
  Yesterday the EPA vessel general permit that has enabled the coal-
fired car ferry S.S. Badger to discharge coal ash into Lake Michigan 
expired. The owner of the Badger insists that the coal ash is basically 
just sand. We know better.
  Scientists are concerned about coal ash because it contains such 
things as arsenic, lead, and mercury. Once in the lake, these chemicals 
enter the food chain through the water we drink and the fish we eat, 
and then they accumulate in our bodies and are associated with cancer 
and reproductive and neurological damage. We know how dangerous mercury 
contamination in fish is to human health.
  Well, it is time for the S.S. Badger to stop adding to the problem 
and either clean up its operation or close it down. If the Badger's 
owners had only recently realized that dumping coal ash was a problem, 
it might be OK to cut them some slack. But the Badger's owners have a 
long history of avoiding the steps needed to clean up their act.
  Most other vessels of the Great Lakes converted from coal to diesel 
fuel before the Badger made its first voyage. In 2008, when conversion 
to a new fuel was way overdue, the Bush administration granted the 
ferry a waiver to continue dumping coal ash through 2012. That was 5 
years too many of toxic dumping by this boat, but to make matters 
worse, the Badger's owners still have not made any reasonable efforts 
to stop dumping coal ash in the lake.
  Now they are attempting to persuade the EPA to give them just 5 more 
years to take a look at this problem. After I came out in opposition to 
this 5-year extension, the Badger's owner asked to meet me in my 
office. I, of course, agreed. He said he was applying for an EPA permit 
to continue dumping coal ash while he looks for ways to convert the 
Badger to run on liquefied natural gas. He wanted to make the Badger, 
he

[[Page S8277]]

said, the greenest vessel on the Great Lakes. What a great idea, I 
thought. But it turns out it isn't even close to being realistic.
  Today there are few suppliers of liquefied natural gas in the area. 
There are no shipyards in the United States that are qualified to 
convert passenger vessels to run on liquefied natural gas. And it would 
take close to $50 million just to develop the infrastructure on the 
land needed to transport fuel to the dock for the Badger.
  One day, all the boats on Great Lakes might be powered by natural 
gas, but that isn't a realistic plan right now or within the next few 
years. It is just another delaying tactic from the owners of the S.S. 
Badger. These owners were given a deadline to convert the ship's fuel 
or dispose of the ash in a responsible way 5 years ago. The Badger has 
blatantly avoided complying with these EPA regulations.
  There has been an effort in the House of Representatives to provide a 
special exemption for this filthy boat on Lake Michigan forever. They 
want them declared some sort of a national historic monument or 
something and say that it shouldn't be governed by environmental 
regulations.
  These are Congressmen whose districts are on Lake Michigan. I have to 
ask them, what do you think about the lake and its future, when this 
boat is responsible for six times the solid waste of all the other 
ships that use Lake Michigan in commerce on an annual basis? Six times. 
That to me is a horrible thing to continue.
  They have had plenty of time to clean up their act and they failed. 
Now we have to get serious. I am hoping the EPA decides very quickly 
that it is time to end the coal-fired ferry tradition of the S.S. 
Badger. This is a vessel that generates and dumps 5 tons of coal ash 
laced with mercury, lead, and arsenic into Lake Michigan every single 
day. This great lake cannot take any more toxic dumping, no matter how 
historic or quaint the source may be.

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