Appeals court upholds Michigan ballast law

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a Michigan law requiring all ships entering the Great Lakes to prevent the introduction of invasive species.

A group of shipping companies and shipping associations had filed suit to have the law struck down, arguing that it affects interstate commerce and therefore can only be done by the federal government. A federal district judge upheld the law in 2007 and now the appeals court has upheld that lower court ruling and the state law.

The law requires all saltwater ships entering the Great Lakes to get a permit from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality before docking at any state ports. In order to get that permit, the ships either have to hold their ballast and not release it into the lakes or have technology on board to kill any organisms that might be in the ballast before it is released.

Invasive species have been an enormous problem in the Great Lakes, particularly species of mussels that have clogged pipe systems, killed off other species living in the lakes and contributing to the development of dead zones in the water. Nearly 200 species have been introduced into the Great Lakes, most of them believed to have been transported in the ballast tanks of ships. The appeals court panel said:

“Michigan, for undisputedly legitimate reasons, has enacted legislation of a type expressly contemplated by Congress. We have no basis to disrupt the result of those democratic processes.”