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Wisconsin will spend $6 million to invest in experimental ballast water treatment systems for the state’s Great Lakes ports. Ballast water is carried in unladen ships to provide stability on the open seas and is discharged in exchanged for cargo once at port. Contaminated ballast water has been blamed for the decline of native fish, an increase in algae and a host of other environmental problems.

A portion of the $6 million in grants will go toward building an on-shore facility at the port of Milwaukee that will treat ballast water before it is discharged into the lake. It is estimated that such a system will cost between $1 million and $2 million.

The ports of Green Bay and Superior are also eligible to use theses funds for similar purposes.

TDA has long advocated for federal legislation establishing consistent national – rather than state – standards for the treatment of ship ballast water to prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species and a federal research program to develop ballast-water treatment technology. However, Congress has been slow to act.

“The federal government is failing to take serious action, and it’s our time to be leaders in treating ballast water here on Lake Michigan,” Governor Doyle said.