A Canadian official said that he hopes his country’s new elected leaders and the U.S. can work out an agreement on ballast water for Great Lakes ships.
Roy Norton, the consul general for the Canadian government in Chicago, said he expects to stay in that post as Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau replaces Conservative Party head Stephen Harper as Canadian prime minister. Norton said he’d like to see the U.S. government, the Great Lakes states and Canada end their differences over regulations affecting the cleaning of ballast water in ships passing through the Great Lakes.
“If we can harmonize those, it would (be) best from an enforcement point of view. It would give clarity to the shipping industry, for example,” said Norton.
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It’s not quite clear when any deal could be reached. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to write stricter rules for ballast water.
Scientists said that they believe many of the invasive species harming the Great Lakes arrived in ballast — the water that helps vessel stability.
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