The impression that I'm getting from these postings is that Lake Express is expected to comply with existing environmental laws while "Badger" is allowed to get an exemption. What happened to equal protection under the law?
I imagine the Lake Express is operating under some exemptions as well.
I doubt the Lake Express high speed catamaran has need of an ash dumping exception. From the article it sounds like the Lake Express lobbyist and friends generate their own toxic output.
And there are more exemptions in the world than just coal ash discharge permits.
When all the coal ash settles, the shoestring outfit running the Badger will get its extension through deception and later suspend services after one more season, leaving the gulled folks of Ludington to figure out what to do with the abandoned hulk. LMC is simply another business. In this case they are simply exploiting legitimate nostalgia to circumvent the law and obfuscate the issue, which is that they agreed to the findings in a legal proceeding..
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Leo_Ames And there are more exemptions in the world than just coal ash discharge permits.
It's just that I can't find any exemptions or adverse actions searching under "Lake Express" in either the EPA or Michigan DEQ websites.
Even if there aren't (And there very well may not be), there are all kinds of exemptions beyond for environmental issues.
And something that keeps going over the opponents head's here is that when the EPA got involved, active Great Lakes coal fired steamships were a species of one. There isn't anyone else to give an exemption to or seeking an exemption for coal ash discharge since there isn't anyone else.
Stop acting like the Badger is getting preferential treatment. The EPA rules didn't force a single coal fired steamship to the wall while letting the Badger keep on steaming.
I vaguely remember some Coast Guard inspection reports, but I don't remember it there were issues, or even which of the 2 ships it was for. I'm sure you would know more about that subject than me.
I'm sure the Coast Guard finds issues pretty regularly with both the Lake Express and the Badger. So it very well may of been either ship.
At pretty much any inspection for any vessel there's going to be something detected that the Coast Guard will either mandate that it be fixed immediately, at the next port with the proper facilities, at the next dry docking, or find something that they want to monitor for a possible issue.
It's not at all uncommon for that list to be a lengthy one. I've seen several over the years through postings at Boatnerd.com for older freighters that are expected to be retired shortly. But I'm unable to locate a database for the Coast Guard where they're posted to bring up an example for the Badger.
schlimmWhen all the coal ash settles, the shoestring outfit running the Badger will get its extension through deception and later suspend services after one more season, leaving the gulled folks of Ludington to figure out what to do with the abandoned hulk. LMC is simply another business. In this case they are simply exploiting legitimate nostalgia to circumvent the law and obfuscate the issue, which is that they agreed to the findings in a legal proceeding..
Hogwash
Here's the type of things they've taken exception at with the Badger in recent years during inspections...
http://cgmix.uscg.mil/PSIX/PSIXDetails.aspx?VesselID=42827
Hit Submit at the bottom of the page.
And for the Lake Express.
http://cgmix.uscg.mil/PSIX/PSIXDetails.aspx?VesselID=666999
Just par for the course for issues to come up. Happens pretty much anywhere with rigorous inspections from restaurants all the way to large vessels. Some of this stuff isn't even the type where the inspector found an issue that either the vessel operator didn't locate on their own or just had neglected to address, since some stuff has to be reported by the vessel operator when a problem is discovered and then inspected by the Coast Guard when repaired to get their approval that it was done correctly.
Just as an update for the SS Badger supporters here, she successfully had new combustion controls installed during her winter layup that have increased her fuel efficency and will result in a significant reduction in coal ash. Cost for Lake Michigan Carferry Services was over $1 million dollars. Next winter, the easier and cheaper portion of the project will happen when she's retrofitted for containing her coal ash onboard.
And late last month, the National Parks System Advisory Board voted to recommend to Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell to recognize the SS Badger for National Historic Landmark status. Those that support this cause should lend their support which can easily be done via signing the following petition.
https://www.change.org/petitions/sally-jewell-please-approve-the-designation-of-the-s-s-badger-as-a-national-historic-landmark
And since this thread was last active, the last Great Lakes freighter with a Skinner Marine Unaflow engine, the St. Mary's Challenger from 1906 (That's 6 years before the Titanic sank), was cut down into a barge last winter and is now an articulated tug/barge combination pushed by a tug in a notch in what's left of her stern.
The railroad carferry Badger is now the last of its kind for this marine engine outside of possibly the former USS Comstock, an ex USN LSD from 1945 that was still active in the Taiwanese Navy a half decade ago.
Thanks for the good news and lot of people will sign, certainly.
I'm not sure how it would work, but I believe that granting landmark status to "SS Badger" would be the kiss of death. The owners would have to jump through all kinds of hoops to make any modifications to the boat from its existing design, including a probable diesel re-powering when the EPA exemption expires or any safety modifications required by the Coast Guard.
When what EPA exemption expires? They won't be dumping coal ash after this season so the need for that exemption will be gone.
And unless federal money is involved, they're free to do whatever they want with their property.
As Paul said above, with landmark status, they are no longer "free to do whatever they want with their property." Any changes in the external appearance, and many internals must be approved with difficulty.
Again, that's not correct. Unless federal grant money is taken, there are no restrictions.
I stand corrected. The restrictions are not substantive in that category. But if it then is added to a state or local listing, there may be more restrictions.
I'm not aware of any state programs being even more restrictive. But it should also be noted that they can't be put on such a list involuntarily. You can rest assured that they're not willingly going to tie their own hands. If this succeeds, it will be with their full support.
This is great news, that they are able to make good progress on meeting their EPA consent agreement requirements. I hope that they are right about their recent work putting the hardest part behind them. I will breath a sigh of relief when they finally have a functioning ash retention system.
http://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/business/article_43734e9a-d2e4-11e3-a0ee-001a4bcf887a.html
The latest issue of Seaway Review has a nice article about the Badger's 1.5 million dollar combustion control system that was installed last winter.
http://harborhouse.com/digital/seawayreview43-1.htm
Next up is the coal ash retention system which gets a brief mention at the end of the article. Should cost under $500,000 and work is underway right now to get it ready for spring.
Well you have to laugh at Chicago. It is OK to reverse the flow of the Chicago River to flush sewage in the direction of the Mississippi....and thats OK. They are overly concerned about a little coal ash dumping by a small Ferry. As if there was no runoff via the large lakeside coal piles surrounding the lake.
Flat Landers at their best.
Yeah, difficult to understand how millions of gallons of untreated raw sewage can be dumped in the lakes (And much worse than that with EPA approval), but folks were getting their underwear in a bunch over a single steamship.
At least they've been able to successfully respond. I just hope that my fears are unfounded since I suspect the EPA will be back in 5-10 years with further complaints.
I remembered that the old ash removal system flushed it with water. The article says they will use "blowers". Does that mean it will be a dry system?
That's my understanding. The blowers remove the ash that then goes by a conveyor in a tube to portable containers (which unfortunately takes a bit of space away on the cardeck) that will be removed once filled. The fly ash will hopefully be sold and serve a useful purpose, instead of just being hauled away to a dump. The slurry idea has always been prohibitive (Too much to store onboard, too much time to pump it out between trips, and too expensive to dispose of) and was why this idea was initially deemed not viable.
Sadly, the vast majority of the 146 polluters that were putting more mercury into Lake Michigan than the Badger was back in 2012 according to the Argonne National Labratories (On average, 36 times more), such as BP, continue with the EPA's blessing with permits despite the Great Lakes Clean Water Act. BP dumps 23.1 parts per trillion of mercury throughout the year (When the standard is supposed to be 1.3).
And that's just one of the many harmful things being dumped into our waters by a single refinery (And in one concentrated area at that, unlike a ship). Badger on the other hand had a mercury output several years ago (before modifying their schedule, switching coal, and the new combustion control system) that was two 1/100th's of an ounce of mercury during the course of a season and was well under the limit during 80% of its time under steam. Its other contaminants were undebatably always under the allowable limits. And unlike a refinery, it had a net benefit for the environment (A savings of approximately 1 million gallons of gas and diesel each year).
Speaks volumes about the process that went on with the Badger...
Leo_AmesSpeaks volumes about the process that went on with the Badger...
I have to say I'm impressed with Great Lakes Carferry's actions here in retrofitting combustion control and ash handling systems at a not inconsiderable cost. These retrofits wouldn't be the easiest to design and instal, I expect' given the age of the boilers, their firing systems and associated controls. No 'plug and play' here.
They don't sound to me like they're cutting corners. They sound like a responsible company doing what they need to do in order to comply with enviroregs and spending the necessary money to do so on the one boat I believe they run. $1M isn't an inconsiderable amount to spend and the work isn't complete. I wonder what the total bill will be?
I know my wife and I tried to get on an EB trip in midsummer several years ago and found out how busy Badger really is.
Good for them.
Charlie
Chilliwack, BC
Charlie,
If memory serves, the restrictions were forced on them after years and years of extensions. I don't believe they installed the ash retention facilities before they were forced to.
Norm
Cost that I'm aware of are at least 250,000 in engineering studies, 1.5 million for the combustion control system, and something under half a million for the project underway this winter. So safe to assume that the bill, when all is said and done, will be well over two million dollars.
As for the last post, it's definitily not accurate. The EPA came knocking in 2008 and the Badger fully provided the necessary information. The EPA gave them a permit that lasted through the end of 2012, agreeing that the current system was the BAT at the time, with LMC believing that they could devise a solution for 2013 that would change that. It was them that told the EPA in 2008 that they thought they could devise a zero discharge system. It wasn't the EPA's mandate. The EPA told them that if this ended up not being possible, that LMC should pursue an extension.
LMC spent that quarter of a million dollars I mentioned after this permit was granted as they pursued their goal of zero dischage into Lake Michigan. Sadly, they weren't able to find a technically feasible and economically viable solution at the time. Coal slurry as I said, simply would take up far too much room to store, too much time to pump out in port, and cost too much to dispose of. And storing the fly ash dry onboard would've required about 2-3 days of idleness after every 12 hours of operation. So LMC filed for that permit to extend things and that's when things heated up thanks to the competitor's lobbying.
But they're going to satisfy the consent decree that gave them a single extension for two seasons, with penalties each year. And this is something never before done, that had no demonstrable technologies available for LMC to fall back on. This is all unknown territory and they've done a fine job of it so far.
And they hardly dragged their feet before this. They were making improvements long before the EPA got involved, like the stack camera that was installed in 2000 for one of the more minor but very useful retrofits that has been done (Allows the engineers to monitor the stack smoke).
The entire boiler system was overhauled and upgraded over approximately the decade before the EPA came around, providing for significant efficency gains that directly benefited the environment.
Leo
Thank you for the information you provided above.
I thought that any company that is spending this kind of money on retrofits must have had some history of (pre)planning and perhaps doing other work to comply.
Like I said previously, old boilers, combustion equipment and firing controls would take a lot of professional research/design time, never mind the cost of boilermakers and other trades to retrofit. That process would take a lot of time and money for a marine (or indeed any) plant as old as this.
Sounds like they got it right after time.
Good for EPA...they must have seen something positive happening to grant an extension.
The Badger's ash collection and conveyor system has now been delivered.
A local news story has said they have begun installation.
http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?list=194409&id=1149981#.VLh-vCvF-o8
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