Mayor says he's working on cruise ship pollution deal
Photo by Joshua Kristal
Andrew Brent, a spokesman for Mayor Mike Bloomberg, contacted South Brooklyn Post to say that a deal is in the works to solve the major air pollution problem on the coast of Red Hook. Brent was responding to a series of articles in South Brooklyn Post revealing the fact that Carnival Cruise Lines, which netted $6 billion in profits over the last three years, is at a stalemate with city and state officials over a $1 to $2 million a year electricity bill that would clean Brooklyn’s air and the air quality over the New York harbor.
“A deal would benefit all of the parties involved, and we’re all working to finalize one,” Brent wrote in an email.
As we reported last week, cruise ships are the No. 1 cause of air pollution in the New York/New Jersey harbor, which the EPA and Port Authority have declared as not meeting national standards for air pollution or ozone.
The Port Authority and the U.S. EPA have set aside $14 million to build an electrical plug in station for Carnival’s ships when they dock in Red Hook. Currently the ships idle and burn the cheapest form of diesel fuel, called bunker fuel, which they purchase tax-free in New York. The diesel emissions release cancer and asthma inducing particulates into the air.
A battle between city and state utility officials on how to subsidize $1 to $2 million in annual electricity bills is delaying the project. The city built the cruise terminal for $52 million in 2006.
To read more, check out South Brooklyn’s post’s exclusive coverage:
Cruise Ships Spew Air Pollution
Carnival Makes Big Profits But Balks at Electricity Bill
Politicians rally to force action
