Groups Sue EPA Over Lax Invasive Species Rules

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Environmentalists sued the federal government Monday over new rules that critics say do too little to prevent cargo ships from dumping invasive species into the nation's waterways. The Environmental Protection Agency is requiring oceangoing vessels to exchange their ballast water, or rinse their ballast tanks if empty, before entering U.S. coastal waters and the Great Lakes. Environmentalists say more extensive treatment of ballast tanks is necessary to keep invasive species from foreign ports from damaging U.S. aquatic ecosystems. Ballast water, which keeps vessels stable in rough seas, is blamed for carrying zebra mussels and many other invasive species into U.S. waters where they have overwhelmed native species and caused other environmental harm. In their lawsuit filed with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, three groups contend the EPA permit's requirements are too weak to meet Clean Water Act standards. "The law does not allow ... (link)