Date:
6/13/2011 4:00 AM
The owners of the SS Badger have been informed by the U.S. EPA that as of December 2012, the big ship will have to stop dumping ash from its coal-fired boilers into Lake Michigan.
Initially, the options being explored by the company that owns the 410-foot car ferry appeared to be very expensive and cumbersome.
The first of those was to continue burning coal and keep the ash on board during passage, and then unload and dump the ash into an approved landfill.
The problems presented by this option include lost time in the boarding process, and additional expenses in dumping fees.
The second option was to replace the existing boilers with modern diesel marine engines. They could cost as much as $16 million.
Now, the company is pouring all of its resources into what it calls its most viable option to date, compressed natural gas.
The idea was sent by Wayne Fox, a Ludington native who works for DTE.
“This would make us the greenest ship on the Great Lakes,” SS Badger spokesperson Lynda Matson told 24 Hour News 8 on Thursday afternoon. “Compressed natural gas burns very cleanly and the cost is very similar to coal.”
Company officials met with the EPA last week. The agency agrees that CNG is a viable option.
The changeover would require less investment than new engines, because the ship’s current boilers would be retrofitted to burn CNG.
The boat’s owners are in the process of investigating how storage and refueling would be handled.
The SS Badger is the last working coal-fired steamer in the United States. It could become the first ever to be retrofitted for CNG.
Article source: http://www.cngnow.com/EN-US/NewsAndEvents/Pages/Tools/pageRedirectById.aspx?ID=444