Dear Editor: Cruise ships bring money to our town but also discard waste into our waters. As of 2019, there is no funding from the State of Alaska to monitor these wastewater discharges.
The Sentinel article of May 7 about the debate on this issue, included a statement reading in part that the “Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation”… showed “recent cruise ship wastewater violations involving excessive discharges of pollutants like ammonia, copper, chlorine and fecal coliform.”
A letter to the editor in the Sentinel dated May 15, 2025, by Devon Calvin gave specifics that certainly made me stop and think once again about the limits of what nature can absorb and still thrive. In that letter he made the statement: “On each cruise, a 3,600-passenger ship will generate about 55 million gallons of acidic scrubber wastewater – equal to 84 Olympic-sized swimming pools.” That is just the engine waste. Calvin also stated: “On a seven-day journey, a ship of this size dumps 211,000 gallons of treated sewage and 1.7 million gallons of gray water.
Some are allowed to dump treated sewage in Alaska waters, even at port; others are required to dump outside three miles.”
With no monitoring, ignoring requirements is easy. The requirements don’t even seem strict enough to protect the environment. This is a problem that needs to be addressed whether there is 1 or 6 cruise ships in our waters.
However our community decides to vote, I would ask that those with the most say in this industry will consider the future of our waters and all of us. Don’t let the extra dollars now, cause you to ignore your responsibility for the futures of everyone and the beauty of this place. Please, please include the future in your decisions for the present.
Beth Kindig, Sitka
