Wisconsin will incur lost jobs, increased manufacturing costs and stifled economic development if proposed statewide regulations on regarding ballast water at the state's Great Lakes ports are approved, a group of business leaders, labor representatives and elected officials warned today. 

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has proposed a permit to regulate ballast water discharges in the Great Lakes would establish standards for Wisconsin that are 100 times more stringent than those proposed by the International Maritime Organization and adopted by the other Great Lakes states.

Wisconsin also has greatly accelerated its effective ballast regulation date to 2012, while the other states have adopted a 2016 implementation date. 

"We have the worst economy in decades, and Wisconsin's unemployment just skyrocketed to nearly 9 percent.  Thousands of people are losing jobs, and businesses are struggling. This is absolutely the worst time to enact a proposal that isolates Wisconsin, kills jobs and hurts our ports. We are foolish to tell the international shipping community to go somewhere else," said Superior Mayor Dave Ross, speaking for the coalition during a press conference at the Port of Milwaukee this morning.

Steve Fisher, executive director of the American Great Lakes Association, said that Wisconsin's three major ports - Superior (which is the largest port on the Great Lakes), Milwaukee and Green Bay - would in essence be cutting themselves off from international trade and important agricultural exports if they are forced to follow the proposed permit for their ports.

Fisher said Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania have all adopted the same standards for ballast treatment, but that enacting a different standard for Wisconsin would be like putting up a "jobs not welcome" sign.

"Port officials in Duluth have already said ships that skip Wisconsin will go to Chicago, Duluth or somewhere in Indiana, making Wisconsin ports much less competitive," said Eric Reinelt, director of the Port of Milwaukee. "We support tough regulation for ballast discharge permits, but this proposal with unrealistic goals doesn't make good economic sense and can't be achieved with available technology."

"These standards need to be consistent with our neighboring states and competing ports.  Without changes, Milwaukee, Green Bay and Superior will lose jobs, increase manufacturing costs and stifle economic development," said Tom Schwark, executive board trustee with The International Longshoremen's Association Local 815.