Page 42: of Marine News Magazine (March 2012)

42MNMarch 2012 BWT Downsized Big Ideas Sometime Come in Small Packages By Joseph KeefeHyde Marine?s chemical-free, IMO Type Approved bal- last water treatment solution packs performance in a smaller footprint. That?s good news for small vessel oper- ators who may soon find themselves impacted by a prob- lem that previously was thought to be a ?bluewater? issue. BWT ANDBROWN WATER The notion that ballast water treatment and invasive species are both strictly the domain of big, bluewater lin- ers coming from the Far East and other exotic locales quickly went out the porthole last November when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its long- awaited, updated draft Vessel General Permit (VGP) rule. The new rules potentially bring regulations to bear on ves- sels as small as 79 feet LOA and others, depending on service and routing. Separately, a recent workshop confer- ence held at Duke University in January also highlighted the need for the world?s research fleets to lessen their envi- ronmental footprint. Those efforts include the installation of ballast water treatment systems for smaller hulled research platforms. Prominently mentioned at the confer- ence, also attended by MarineNews Editor Joseph Keefe, was the leadership of Hyde Marine in this effort. GOODNEWS (ATLAST )As this issue of MarineNews went to press, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed its review of the Coast Guard's Ballast Water Discharge Standard regu- lations in accordance with Executive Order 12866, and changed its designation from an Interim Final Rule to a Final Rule on February 24, 2012. The Coast Guard is preparing it for publication in the Federal Register, and expects to complete the administrative process within 30 days ? or by the end of March. John Morris of the U.S. Coast Guard's Environmental Standards Division said in a prepared statement, "We are not at liberty to discuss details of the rule until it is actu- ally published, but wanted to clear up confusion about itsstatus.? At press time, then, the exact BWT standard was not yet public, but the fact that the final rule had been decided at long last, was indeed settled. That?s good news. Separately, in February, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) issued a press release stating that it will pursue a uniform national bal- last water standard by leaving in place the EPA?s current standards in New York for the remainder of EPA?s current Vessel General Permit through December 2013. New York?s decision to (at least temporarily) release its hold on a standard that is unattainable and one which no technol- ogy yet exists to measure its efficacy, is very good news. The move also gives hope that a national standard can be achieved at some point in the future. Both the American Great Lakes Ports Association and Transport Canada applauded the decision.Ahead of all the news is Hyde Marine. HYDEMARINE: EARLY ENTRY + DEEPEXPERIENCE =REALSUCCESSHyde Marine, once a small, Cleveland, Ohio-based company recognized early the need for shipboard ballast water treatment as the effect of zebra mussels and other invasive species in the Great Lakes region gained atten- tion. Today, Hyde Marine is a division of Calgon Carbon Corporation (NYSE:CCC), with corporate headquarters and production facilities in Pittsburgh, PA. That relation- ship is nothing but good news for Hyde, especially in a business where the wherewithal to outlast the prolonged regulatory process and the need to assure customers that service will be available long after the sale are both para- mount. In 1997 Hyde was selected to provide engineering serv- ices for the Great Lakes Ballast Water Demonstration Project and tasked with evaluating and assembling a col- lection of filtration and disinfection technologies thatMN#3 (32-49):MN 2011 Layouts 3/2/2012 10:24 AM Page 42