Russell Long has been a thorn in the side, or as he would prefer, prick to the conscience, of ferry system planner for quite a while, developing a national reputation as a maritime environmental activist in the process.
Published: November, 2000
Russell Long has been a thorn in the side, or as he would prefer, prick to the conscience, of ferry system planners for quite a while, developing a national reputation as a maritime environmental activist in the process. Bay Crossings sat down with Russell to get the lowdown.
How’s the marine environment doing?
Unfortunately, not all that well. As a nation, we’ve made great strides in recycling solid waste, making our homes and offices more energy-efficient, and reducing other waste streams as much as possible. We’ve even banned several horrible contaminants such as DDT and lead. But despite this progress, the total volume of chemical and toxic pollution increases almost daily, as does our use of fuel and energy, which causes global warming.
Consider that all pollution eventually winds up in the water. This includes the compounds that cause smog and air pollution, landfill chemicals from electronic products, oily street runoff from cars and trucks, farm and home pesticides, and a thousand household products like WD-40, Clorox, and wood sealants. And then there’s global warming’s impacts from consumers buying too many products and using too much fuel and energy. As a result, toxic algae blooms and fish die-offs are on the rise, coral reefs are also dying, many marine species are threatened with extinction, and nations like the Maldives and Tuomotus are experiencing greater flooding.
And a society, we don’t think through our actions with good policies. For example, have you noticed that houses have gotten bigger, offsetting the energy gains we fought for? Or consider that 400 million TVs in the US built using cathode ray tubes and mercury are going to be replaced with HDTV over the next ten years. Where will all the dead TVs go? Landfill, leading to water pollution.
I’m sorry to sound so negative, because first, my nature is usually pretty upbeat! And second, every day I hear about big successes in reducing harm to the marine environment.
But while I’m hopeful about our future, it’s clear that we have to be honest with ourselves if we’re to tackle these large problems in ways that really make a difference.
You’re Executive Director of the Bluewater Network. What is your mission?
Our mission is to aggressively protect public waters and lands from environmental threats.
How are you funded? What will your budget amount to this year?
We’re funded by our growing membership and also from private foundations. Actually, Ted Turner and his foundation have been one of our most steadfast supporters over the years. Our budget continues to grow from zero, when I founded Bluewater Network five years ago, to close to a million dollars projected for next year.
Are environmentally friendly ferries possible?
Absolutely. To me it means a vessel that uses the best available technologies to reduce the impacts of air and water pollution, erosion from wake damage, and limits the risk of potential collisions with marine mammals.
Another option is to use natural gas to power ferries. Not only is a natural gas engine FAR less polluting than even the best diesel engine, but it’s the halfway step towards fuel cells. Right now, there’s an Interagency Task Force representing the Navy, Coast Guard, the Air Force, and NOAA that are hoping to develop fuel cells for military and domestic use, in addition to pollution control. But in an ironic twist, they’ve informed Bluewater Network that due to lack of spare vessels for a demonstration project, they’re hoping that new commercial San Francisco ferries can lead the charge towards use of fuel cell technology! And they’re ready to pass along their expertise to help us, which will both aid the military and pave the way for fuel cells in other types of vehicles and craft in the US. Collaborating to create a true zero-emissions ferry would be tremendous for reducing smog and global warming.
An option for slower ferries, such as those used in the Alcatraz route, is to use an Australian vessel design that is primarily powered by wind and solar. The boat, called a Solar Sailor, is currently the toast of Sydney, and is aesthetically gorgeous. Not only does it slip along at 11 knots without any diesel fumes or noise, the wakes are very small and I imagine it wouldn’t cause any disruption to wildlife. In fact, birds like to ride on it, too!
You are advocating that the City of Vallejo make the new ferryboat it will build soon "clean" by using CNG or LNG engines. But environmental and safety issues related to these technologies are not yet fully understood. Should the safety of ferryriders be put at risk?
Vessel safety should never be neglected. Fortunately, the US Coast Guard’s Office of Marine Safety in Washington, DC tells us that they are optimistic enough about CNG and LNG ferries that the Coast Guard has approved several demonstration vessels including one ferry. And a Norwegian car ferry propelled by natural gas is already in use in Scandinavia. Obviously, it’s important to move forward as fast as possible without compromising safety in any way.
You’re calling for a "no new diesel" policy on San Francisco Bay. Hasn’t the environmental performance of diesel engines remarkably improved, with emissions cut up to 90% overall?
Marine diesel doesn’t even come close to a 90 percent reduction, unless the marine version of a catalytic converter is used. But these devices, called SCR, are very expensive, require tremendous maintenance, and entail that either ammonia or urea be injected into the exhaust. We could joke about where to find that urea supply, but seriously, we should be concerned about dumping either of these pollutants into the marine environment without more study. Using the cleanest possible marine diesel without SCR will only get emissions reductions of about 40 percent — a level that is still many times greater than single passenger cars! For these reasons, we maintain that the only practical option is natural gas.
Many experts believe that the long-term solution to marine pollution is fuel cell technology, which is at least a decade away from being ready for prime time. Aren’t diesel engines unavoidable until then?
No. As I mentioned, natural gas powered vessels are the interim solution — and according to the Interagency Task Force, we could be riding in the world’s first fuel cell powered ferry as soon as 2003!
Your report criticizing the environmental performance of ferryboats got, well, a boatload of attention when it was released last year. Did you expect the reaction you got?
The marine industry has never been subject to regulation or review by the EPA until just recently, and so I imagine our preliminary study was pretty shocking for them. I think they’re beginning to overcome their denial and constructively tackle the problems of how to make a ferry, per passenger, as clean as an automobile.
