Cruise Ship Pollutants On West Side: New Bill Says Plug In Or Ship Out

CHELSEA, NY - Cruise ships docking at Manhattan’s West Side and Brooklyn terminals would be mandated to swap fossil fuels for electric power while docking under a bill championed by Chelsea’s city council rep.

A cruise ship docked for 24 hours can emit as much diesel exhaust as 34,400 idling tractor-trailers, council members Erik Bottcher (CD3) and Alexa Aviles (CD38) said at a rally in Red Hook Tuesday, citing an independent analysis verified by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“That’s how much pollution is being generated by these ships: carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and you see smoke coming out of the smokestacks - but the scary thing is, most of these pollutants are invisible,” Bottcher said. “They’re wafting over our neighborhoods and making people sick.”

The bill, Intro 1050, would instead only allow ships agreeing to use shore power - that is, connecting to the local electrical power grid instead of using fossil fuels - at ports in New York City. It’s an electric alternative that Brooklyn already has the capacity for, though only one third of the ships docking in the borough have used it, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said.

Shore power was first implemented at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in 2017 through $19.3 million in port authority, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and New York City Economic Development Corporation funding, the EDC said in a letter to Aviles. However, there remains no air quality monitoring infrastructure to measure how cruises impact port areas, the EDC said.

While the EDC itself doesn’t conduct audits or inspections, cruise ships must maintain records of emissions readings and waste. These logs are “periodically” monitored by agencies like the WSCG, USPH and the ships’ internal auditors.

“EDC is exploring ways to integrate air quality-monitoring projects with our data collection efforts at the cruise terminal,” the agency said.

Intro 1050 was introduced by the council back in May by Avilés and Bottcher, as well as council members Amanda Farías, Lincoln Restler, Kevin Riley, Farah Louis, Chi Ossé, Sandy Nurse, Shahana Hanif and Marjorie Velázquez.

It was referred to the Committee on Economic Development, where it currently awaits movement.