Page 14 - Port of Baltimore Magazine May/June 2011
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The Port of Baltimore
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May/June 2011
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Green
Port
T
hanks to an innovative partnership
between Maryland officials,
industry representatives and
university-affiliated researchers, the
Chesapeake Bay is an international testing
center for treatment systems that remove
organisms from ballast water.
The Maritime Environmental Resource
Center (MERC,
),
which is funded in part by the Maryland
Port Administration (MPA) and the U.S.
Maritime Administration, has been testing
ballast water treatment systems and other
Green Ship innovations for the past three
years. At the end of June, a new mobile
test platform, built on a barge, is expected
to open. The $2.7 million research and
testing facility has the primary goal of
preventing the spread of invasive aquatic
species into the Bay and waters around
the world. Currently, more than 150
invasive species have been found in the
Bay, most of which are thought to have
been introduced by ballast water.
“We’ve grown quite a bit, with
significant funding from a variety of
sources committed to addressing critical
maritime environmental issues,” said Dr.
Mario N. Tamburri, Director of MERC and
a professor at the University of Maryland
Center for Environmental Science.
and biological communities differ.
The Bay region also offers four distinct
seasons with corresponding changes
in water temperature, and diverse and
abundant aquatic life to challenge
treatment systems.
John Vasina, Project Manager with
the MPA, explained that MERC has been
testing treatments aboard MARAD’s
M/V
Cape Washington
, a working cargo
ship. But the
Cape Washington
must be
deployed whenever the military needs her,
and then researchers have to dismantle
their equipment.
“MERC wanted to establish a
more permanent center,” Vasina
said, adding that the barge will be
able to accommodate a few different
manufacturers to test their systems
within the testing season. Treatment
manufacturers are eager to begin
MERC is one of three ballast water
treatment testing facilities in the
United States and one of only a handful
worldwide. By placing its facility on a
barge, MERC allows researchers to move
to different areas of the Bay, where salinity
Ballast Water Cleaning
Systems Tested in Baltimore
BY NANCY MENEFEE JACKSON
MERC is one of three ballast water treatment
testing facilities in the United States and one
of only a handful worldwide.
developing and testing systems.
The new facility will meet all the
criteria for testing, while providing
vendors with an unbiased way to test
systems.
“The criteria for testing is very
stringent and based on EPA protocols,
while the U.S. Coast Guard sets the criteria
for what you can discharge,” Vasina said.
According to Tamburri, “We look
forward to providing technology
developers/vendors with facilities and
expertise to test new innovations, while
providing regulatory agencies and vessel
owners with the information needed to
better protect our environment.”
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MARITIME ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE CENTER
