Sulphur dioxide emissions related to cruise ships hit a peak Saturday not seen since 2009, says Marg Gardiner, president of the James Bay Neighbourhood Association.
Saturday saw the highest recorded one-hour SO2 levels related to cruise ship plumes in five years at Topaz Avenue, three kilometres from Ogden Point, Gardiner said. Monitoring sites in both James Bay and Topaz recorded maximum SO2 levels exceeding World Health Organization 24-hour guidelines, she said.
Gardiner said ship arrivals and departures should be staged to minimize the number of ships in port at any one time and thereby lessen the levels of the toxic gas. She would also like to see: the City of Victoria included in a planned fuel monitoring program to either sample fuel used by cruise ships or inspect fuel logs, a study of emissions within 200 metres from ships using scrubber technology and a switch to a lower-sulphur fuel when ships cross the international water line.
“We are a very unique port in that it is the only port we know of where the emissions go directly onto land by the prevalent winds,” she said.
Gardiner said one of the ships in port Saturday night was the Grand Princess, which has been outfitted with scrubbers to reduce emissions.
She worries that there’s a temptation for ships that have been fitted with scrubbers not to move to lower-sulphur fuel.
“Scrubber technology is supposed to be very effective, supposedly knocking out 95 to 98 per cent of sulphur dioxide and particulate matter. However, when they’re using scrubbers, are they going to be using the dirtier fuel again instead of the cleaner fuel?” she asked.
“Because these ships are so big and they’re burning more, if you take out 90 per cent but you have much dirtier fuel to start with, we may not be achieving what we hope we’re achieving,” she said
Curtis Grad, Greater Victoria Harbour Authority president and CEO, said in a statement that the authority shares neighbourhood association concerns over air quality.
“What we can state, definitively, is that the industry is committed to operating in full compliance with Transport Canada regulations and will, in fact, exceed regulatory standards upon completion of onboard scrubber retro-fits 18 months from now,” Grad said.
The GVHA has been tracking air quality for several years. Emissions have been trending downward, “with high air quality ratings 99 per cent of the time cruise ships are in port,” he said. “Looking ahead, on Jan, 1, 2015, new international maritime regulations come into effect which will see further reductions of cruise-ship emissions, either through using more efficient fuels or by installing onboard scrubber technology.”
Victoria Coun. Chris Coleman, council liaison for James Bay, said Gardiner has legitimate concerns.
He said he would like to see the cruise lines move to a better grade of fuel.
“They put that process off,” Coleman said. “They were supposed to go to it in 2015. They put that process off because they’ve got this mechanical response [of scrubbers]. I have faith in the [cleaner] bunker fuel as the appropriate response rather than mechanics that can break down at any one time,” Coleman said.
Mayor Dean Fortin said he has met with the James Bay Neighbourhood Association and the GVHA to discuss issues involving both cruise ships and the associated bus traffic.
Fortin said he would like to see the cruise industry move to the lower SO2 fuels sooner rather than later, and to put ships with scrubbers on routes to Victoria.
“I’m working with the harbour authority to see what we can do to mitigate these issues around air quality,” Fortin said.
