SR0098LRB098 07300 JDS 37363 r

1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Lake Michigan Car Ferry, Inc., owns and operates
3the S.S. Badger, a 410-foot steam-powered car ferry that sails
4between Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Ludington, Michigan,
5approximately 134 days each year; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Every day that the S.S. Badger operates it dumps
7into Lake Michigan nearly 4 tons of coal ash, which contains
8arsenic, lead, mercury, and other metals that can damage
9aquatic ecosystems; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The quantity of that discharge exceeds the
11combined coal, iron, and limestone discharges of the 125 other
12large freighters operating in the Great Lakes; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The S.S. Badger currently operates under a 2008
14National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
15General Permit that authorizes it to continue dumping coal ash
16into Lake Michigan until December 19, 2012; and
 
17    WHEREAS, During the drafting of the 2008 Vessel General
18Permit, Lake Michigan Car Ferry, Inc., indicated that it would
19take steps to eliminate its coal ash discharges before December
2019, 2012; and
 

 

 

SR0098- 2 -LRB098 07300 JDS 37363 r

1    WHEREAS, Lake Michigan Car Ferry, Inc., did not take those
2actions and has subsequently sought approval from the United
3States Environmental Protection Agency to continue dumping
4this hazardous material into Lake Michigan for another four
5years under an individual NPDES permit; therefore, be it
 
6    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL
7ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the
8Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection
9Agency to protect the aquatic ecosystems that sustain life in
10and around Lake Michigan by denying Lake Michigan Car Ferry's
11NPDES individual permit application for the S.S. Badger; and be
12it further
 
13    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
14delivered to the Administrator of the United States
15Environmental Protection Agency, the Administrator of Region 5
16of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the
17Illinois Congressional delegation.