With approximately 55,000 cruise ship passengers expected in Eastport in 2025 -- up from 7,000 the previous year -- concerns are being raised related to discharges from the ships and how they may impact the sensitive marine ecosystems of Passamaquoddy and Cobscook bays.
      Cruise ships have long been the focus of environmental groups that point out the risks associated with discharged wastewater. In its 2024 report, Friends of the Earth scored the cruise ship lines that are visiting Eastport poorly for their pollution management, with Holland America, Princess Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Lines scoring a D-, D and D+, respectively.
      "I am concerned about impacts on marine waters from graywater, septic system and Exhaust Gas Cleaning System [scrubber] discharges from cruise ships," writes Robin Hadlock Seeley, a marine scientist and Pembroke resident. Citing a 2024 Pacific Environment report that found that scrubber discharge is toxic to marine life at very low concentrations, she continues, "It seems obvious that any cruise ship discharges described as toxic to marine life, or alternatively the cruise ships that produce these discharges, should be prohibited in marine areas as productive and economically valuable as our Cobscook and Passamaquoddy bays."
      The regulations surrounding cruise ship discharges are complicated, with current state and federal protections focusing primarily on wastewater. According to David Madore, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, cruise ship discharges are regulated by the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA), which is managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). "Under VIDA and general cruise ship policy, no cruise ships have been discharging treated sewage or graywater while in port," Madore says. Cruise ship graywater refers to water from showers, sinks, laundry and kitchens.
      No vessel can discharge untreated wastewater within three miles of the port, Madore adds, and even outside of that range it's unlikely that vessels are discharging untreated wastewater "as their treatment systems, like sewage treatment plants on land, require a constant diet of wastewater to run effectively."
      Recognizing the three-mile limit for wastewater discharge, Maine Senator Marianne Moore of Calais points out that "other areas of Maine with a large passenger ship presence such as Mount Desert Island and Casco Bay have been declared NDZs," referencing the no discharge zones that can be created by the EPA. "I know a factor in the granting of NDZs is a harbor's ability to handle waste," she continues, adding that the Port of Eastport's waste management policy is of interest. "We must work to protect the health of our coastal waters and fisheries while also supporting a vibrant tourism industry."
      NDZs only apply to black water or a combination of black and gray water, however, and those discharges are being handled at the port level, says Chris Gardner, executive director of the Eastport Port Authority. "It's an understanding between shipping agents and the port," Gardner says in reference to discharges and how they are managed. Cruise ships are only in port for a short while, he continues, and generally do not discharge during that time period. If an emergency discharge is required, the ship will contact the port to clear it.
      With that said, wastewater treatment on cruise ships "vastly outshines our own," Gardner says, noting that, while Eastport recently spent a significant sum to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility, cruise ships have more advanced filtration methods in place. "It's cleaner than our facility." In fact, when a cruise ship is in port, "We'd be better off to hook up our facility to the cruise ship and have it processed and discharged off the breakwater," Gardner says.
      When it comes to cruise ships dumping their discharge in the bay, however, "they just wouldn't do it," Gardner says, adding "it would be bad [public relations]." Cruise ships are closely monitored while in port, he says, with a pilot from Eastport on board.
      The port authority is not concerned about cruise ship discharges, Gardner says, but if it got to a point where concern was warranted, they would look into formal preventive measures such as an NDZ. "We [at the port] understand the bay and the stewardship of the region, and we take that very seriously."

Scrubbers in focus
      Even as formal and informal guidelines exist for typical wastewater discharges, concerns surround the influx of a less regulated form of discharge that some say is potentially more damaging. Open loop scrubbers, or devices that filter the exhaust of a cruise ship to remove sulfur and other pollutants and discharge the resulting washwater into the ocean, have become an increasing international concern since being widely implemented a few years ago as part of a multi industry effort to curtail air pollution. The number of vessels, including cruise ships and freighters, equipped with scrubbers globally increased from 243 in 2020 to more than 7,400 at the start of the year, according to Pacific Environment.
      Scrubber washwater is up to 100,000 times more acidic than the surrounding waters, according to Arctic researcher Eelco Leemans, presenting a significant risk to marine life in the immediate area. In 2022, the International Maritime Organization recognized the associated dangers of such discharges and released voluntary treatment guidelines for scrubber washwater. Germany and Belgium, meanwhile, have banned open loop scrubber discharges entirely.
      In the U.S., the EPA's VIDA guidelines are primarily responsible for regulating scrubber washwater. A significant portion of the document, Vessel Incidental Discharge National Standards of Performance, relates to scrubbers and notes that during its development "several comments" were received in favor of instituting a zero discharge standard as some countries have done. However, "EPA received no information demonstrating that such a ban is technically available as a uniform national standard." While proposed in 2020, the guidelines were not finalized until November 2024; however, the enforcing party -- the USCG -- has not yet completed its end of the process. For its part, the USCG has until October 2026 to finalize its enforcement policies, until which time the less stringent guidelines from 2013 technically remain in effect.
      In the meantime, the Port of Seattle and the State of Connecticut have taken measures by instituting a full ban on washwater discharge, while New Hampshire and Massachusetts have declared their coastlines as no discharge zones for additional protection.
      Asked if scrubbers and the associated discharge are a particular concern, Gardner expresses full faith in the existing regulations. "All of the discharges are covered by the USCG regulations. We just make sure that they're held to," he says, adding that there has not been an issue with discharges at the port for the 20 years he's worked there.