cover image: NATIONAL VESSEL DUMPING ASSESSMENT: - QUANTIFYING THE THREAT OF SHIP WASTE

20.500.12592/w4j1m2

NATIONAL VESSEL DUMPING ASSESSMENT: - QUANTIFYING THE THREAT OF SHIP WASTE

1 Mar 2022

Parks Canada’s mandate is to establish protected areas that conserve representative examples of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage and provide for the enjoyment and education of the public while maintaining the area to meet the needs of future generations. [...] INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATION • United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 25: UNCLOS provides the international legal framework for ocean activities and boundaries and establishes the fundamental duty of states to protect and preserve the marine environment. [...] Maritime zones seaward of the baseline include the territorial sea (0–12 nautical miles [nm] seaward of the baselines), the contiguous zone (12–24 nm seaward of the baselines), and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) (12–200 nm seaward of the baselines). [...] The CSA introduces and regulates pollution through the Vessel Pollution and Dangerous Chemical Regulations (VPDCR).31 Although each of the operational wastes discussed in this report would appear to fit the definition of a “pollutant” as defined by the CSA, their disposal at sea is authorized under the Act. [...] The widespread failure of STP to effectively treat sewage and the lack of a requirement for ships to treat sewage before discharging it outside the limits of the territorial sea (except for some ships in the Arctic) suggests that much of the sewage discharged into Canada’s ocean is either untreated or undertreated.
Pages
88
Published in
Canada