Marine Pollution

Heavy Fuel Oil pollution

The Issue

Many large, ocean-going vessels visiting Alaska carry and burn heavy fuel oil, a cheap, dirty fuel made from bottom-of-the-barrel residue left over from oil refining. International regulations prohibit the use of HFO due to its high sulfur content unless an exhaust gas cleaning system is used to ‘scrub’ the sulfur from the exhaust; viewed simply, it solves an air pollution problem by turning it into a water pollution problem, but it really leaves us with both.

Pollution from HFO

Air: Even with the use of scrubbers, ships burning HFO release considerably more particulate matter, nitrous oxides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s), and black carbon compared with cleaner fuels. Black carbon, which is one of the primary drivers of Arctic warming, actually increases 81 percent when using HFO with scrubbers.

Water: HFO vessels using scrubbers discharge wastewater that contains heavy metals, PAH’s, nitrites and nitrates, sulfates, and particulate matter pollutants. These water pollution discharges can persist within the marine environment for decades.

Risks

The wastewater, even at extremely low concentrations, has been shown to disrupt biological processes and threaten the health and wellbeing of Alaska’s marine ecosystem, on which Alaskans rely for food, cultural, and economic security.

Alaskans are exposed to scrubber pollution through activities in our nearshore waters and consumption of seafood in which HFO generated pollutants bioaccumulate. Exposure to air pollutants like black carbon is linked to a number of serious health risks including cancer mortalities.

Large cruise ships carry millions of gallons of HFO through our waters each year. When spilled, HFO’s density allows it to sink and resurface, prolonging environmental impacts and making it much more expensive and difficult to clean.

The solution: Cleaner fuels

We have the opportunity to protect our marine waters — essential to healthy and thriving coastal Alaska communities — by requiring the use of cleaner fuels. There are no real barriers for ships to buy, carry, and burn cleaner fuels — they’re already built for it.

No amount of cost savings are worth the threats to our waters, communities, livelihoods and ways of life.

What you can do

Report any discharge you observe in the water that has floating oil, film, sheen or discoloration to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Be sure to note the date, time, dock location, and name of the vessel. Also, describe what it looks like and smells like, and include any photos/videos you have.

Sign our Cleaner Fuels petition!
Send all reports to DEC at 907-465-5278 or DEC.WQ.Cruise@alaska.gov.
If you do report a violation to DEC, please also let SEACC know by emailing cleanwater@seacc.org so we can track what has been reported and follow-up with DEC.