Washington Legislature not ready to set sail with ship exhaust crackdown

An international bid to reduce air pollution from ocean-going ships may be increasing water pollution in the Salish Sea. But a proposal to untangle this paradox went aground this winter for the second year in a row in the Washington Legislature.

Policymakers are zeroing in on the fuels ships burn, which affects the exhaust that goes into the air. Growing numbers of cargo ships have pollution scrubbers to clean their smokestack exhaust, only they then often flush the dirty scrubber washwater into the sea.

To conservationists, the washwater dumping represents a “loophole” that needs to be closed to prevent an accumulation of toxic contaminants in the marine environment. As industry sees it, the competitive standing of Northwest ports could be endangered for minimal benefit.

The debate about what course to take is moving along the Inside Passage like a peripatetic cruise ship. The first stop was Olympia in January. Shift to Victoria in February. In March, the Alaska Legislature in Juneau. In April, the action returns to Seattle and then in May, perhaps Olympia again, the San Juan Islands and/or Ottawa.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/03/26/washington-legislature-not-ready-to-set-sail-with-ship-exhaust-crackdown/