James Bay British Columbia Canada
Cruise Ship Woes Reduce Quality Of Life
June 29, 2007
Three months ago Cruise Bruise reported on the town of Bar Harbor, Maine cruise ship woes with tour buses clogging traffic and contributing to other safety and environmental issues.
Now the James Bay community is up in arms, for the same reasons. With over 300,000 cruise ship visitors making their way via cruise ship to James Bay, the problem dominates dinner table conversation.
James Bay citizens watched with interests as their American neighbors in Alaska tried to pass legislation to make the cruise lines more responsible for the environmental impact they have on the communities they call at, or pass near while they rake in the dollars from passengers eager to toss caution to the wind and visit some of the final frontiers.
James Bay near Victoria, British Columbia, gets about 160 cruise ship calls each year. The problem, much the same as Bar Harbor Maine, is the heavy traffic from tour buses, causing congestion and safety issues. The other problem is the environmental impact the cruise industry has on the environment.
Citizens complain that the population of the town goes from nothing, to thousands in the "blink of an eye", according to
Victoria Harbor Authority (VHA) held a public meeting to discuss the problem and to look for potential solutions that would keep eager business owners and citizens alike happy.
Harbor authority general manager Paul Servos emphasized that the authority wants to work inclusively with all parties involved.
The VHA has worked hard to promote Victoria as a port-of-call along the Alaska cruise route through marketing initiatives and visits to tourist conferences. In the last four years alone, the number of visits have more than tripled.
Citizens depending on that cruise ship passenger traffic for their bread and butter, are hesitant to bite the hand that feeds them. But, they are in a minority. Many citizens resent the intrusion on their peaceful lifestyle.
But, the increased traffic has lead to problems that should have been foreseen, yet they were allowed to spiral out of control. Growing numbers of citizens are asking for caps on the cruise ship traffic, to get the problems under control. The VHA has called this "ridiculous argument", clearly in favor of turning the town into a widening gold mine for cruise industry earnings.
Clearly the industry is interested in marketing nearby foreign markets as exotic destinations, while spending less on skyrocketing fuel to reach these nearby wild frontier communities. The exploitation of these previously pristine landscapes have lead to decimation in more places than James Bay. The Caribbean and Central America are long term examples of cruising gone wrong, with the industry refusing to contribute to the well being of the residents, taking and never giving back.
In response to community pollution concerns, the VHA has partnered with the Capital Regional District to conduct a year-long air-quality study to determine the impacts of exhaust fumes from ship smokestacks, tour buses and Helijets that operate in James Bay.
Environmentally, some American cities have tried to reduce cruise ship pollution by providing shore to shop electricity for the enormous vessels while they are in port.
But in Victoria, at Ogden Point within a few hundred meters of James Bay homes, there are no plans to give cruise ships access to the electrical grid.
“You can’t just plug it in and flip a switch,” says the VHA in an interview this week. “The requirement for power is very, very high and currently it’s not viable on Vancouver Island to hook that up . . . Right now B.C. Hydro really can’t provide the power and the cost of power is astronomical.”
The VHA says the required electricity for the ships is not viable on Vancouver Island, British Columbia Hydro can"t provide it, and if they did the cost would be astronomical. This is something the Canadians are not willing to give away free of charge, as some American cities have.
B.C. Hydro quoted a letter dated April 4, 2006, that says the crown agency was prepared to provide power for cruise ships at Ogden Point; B.C. Hydro sent the letter to the engineering firm Stantec Consulting Ltd., which was working on the project for the GVHA.
The ships would need three dedicated circuits, the letter says, each with a capacity of 10 mega volt-amperes. It says, “Note that a supply of this magnitude requires a significant amount of work at our substation and due to lead times for purchase, installation and commissioning of substation equipment it would take a minimum of 18 months from date of payment of connection fee before service could be made available.”
B.C. Hydro said it would cost $12.5 million to provide the power. It is unclear who would pay for this cost, but it is unlikely they will pass the cost onto the cruise industry, instead passing the cost onto rate payers, tax payers and businesses.
Victoria MP Denise Savoie introduced a motion this week for a Clean Cruise Ship Act that would make Canada’s regulations as good as or better than those in neighboring jurisdictions.
“This is an industry that’s strong and growing,” says Savoie. “That’s one of the reasons I think it’s important to have better regulations. We have to plan for the future.” The motion calls for clear regulation of the discharge of grey and black water, sewage sludge, garbage and incinerator ash. It would also establish a monitoring and enforcement regime and would include financial penalties.
Alaska, Washington and California all have stronger regulations than British Columbia does, feeding fears the province will become a dumping ground for ships on the Alaska route.
