Cruise ships could threaten Charleston's ‘delicate balance'

The horse is a battle-engine geared to breach our walls, to come down on our sacred city… overwhelm us.
Trojans, do not trust the horse. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks — especially bringing gifts.
— 'The Aeneid,' Virgil

Of course, few people would seriously equate the cruise ship industry to the legendary wooden horse whose deception brought about the destruction of Troy. The SPA appears to be sincere in seeking suggestions about how best to accommodate increased cruise ship traffic.

Still, important decisions have been made — contracts approved, plans finalized — that should have waited until all of the information was in and the public given full opportunity to weigh in on the issue. For example, the SPA has signed a three-year contract with Celebrity Cruise Lines bringing one ship per week to the city beginning in May. These actions threaten to eliminate our ability to control the damage this industry could cause.

The Historic Charleston Foundation's "Delicate Balance" forum on Wednesday, January 8, was timely and well done. The standing-room-only crowd confirmed the deep concerns Charleston residents have about cruise ship expansion.

Cruise ships often degrade the cities they visit. Key West, Fla., is just one case in point. Large and frequent ships contribute noise from public address systems, horns, engines and passengers. Diesel engines burning the dirtiest fuel available belch a constant stream of toxic soot while the ship is at berth. Cruise ships, some of which carry more passengers than live in the city of Georgetown, can dump sewage and ground-up waste directly into the harbor.

At berth, ships tower over the historic skyline, in direct conflict with Charleston's precedent-setting efforts to achieve the proper "height, scale and mass" of its buildings. Pulses of pedestrians and cars clog city streets at busy times of the day. And the nature of tourism declines with 'hit and run' visitors who spend just a few hours in the city, generally around the Market.

The cruise industry has a poor history of environmental compliance. The two lines that will be visiting Charleston, Carnival and Celebrity, are among the worst offenders.

In 2009, 39 Celebrity and Carnival Cruise line ships were cited for environmental violations around the country.

In November 2006, the Celebrity Mercury (in Charleston on Jan. 4), was fined $100,000 for dumping 500,000 gallons of untreated wastewater into Puget Sound. In 2002, Carnival was fined $18 million for dumping oily waste from five ships and falsifying entries in log books.

National regulations, even if they were enforced, will not protect Charleston from these and other abuses. The cruise industry has aggressively opposed improved federal standards for garbage and waste disposal, spending almost $6 million on lobbying and campaign contributions in 2009 alone.

In response, port cities and coastal states have adopted their own standards. Charleston must do the same.

A new task force, announced at the Historic Charleston forum, will have the opportunity to propose specific steps the city and the SPA can take to mitigate problems. The Conservation League has produced a set of suggestions, which are available on our Web site: scccl.org.

First, to deal with traffic congestion the city should deploy a combination of park-and-ride lots, shuttle bus service, a ban on cruise passenger parking near the terminal, serious enforcement of existing anti-idling and carriage ordinances, all driven by a comprehensive, integrated transportation analysis for the east side of the city.

Beyond a certain volume, congestion cannot be managed. With that in mind, the city and SPA should limit the size, height and number of ships that can call on Charleston.

The city and the SPA must take steps to protect air and water by banning sewage discharges within 12 miles of the port, by requiring clean fuels to be used within 12 miles of the port and by requiring ships to plug in to shore-side electricity to avoid ship idling. Consistent with the goals of Charleston's proposed green plan, the city should ensure the use of garbage and waste recycling and disposal facilities.

The economic burden of mitigation should be placed entirely on the cruise lines, which are extremely profitable businesses.

The City of Charleston can lead the nation in adopting the highest standards to ensure that the excellence that has come to characterize the city is not compromised.

Today, however, we languish at the back of the pack. We have no safeguards to avoid pollution and over-crowding.

Historic Charleston's task force will have an opportunity to change that, and to prove that we can rise to the challenge of achieving that delicate balance, for the future of our "sacred city."

Dana Beach is executive director of the Coastal Conservation League.