Cruise Ship Blues: The Underside of the Cruise Industry

Cruise Ship Blues: The Underside of the Cruise Industry Wednesday, January 22, 2003, 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. The Commonwealth Club, 595 Market Street, San Francisco Admission: $3 students, $6 members, $12 non-members Register: http://www.commonwealthclub.org/sections.html#cruiseshipblues Or call (415) 597-6700 In his new book, “Cruise Ship Blues,” author and self-described “cruise junkie” Ross Klein exposes the underside of the cruise industry, documenting environmental, public health and social justice flaws. Klein’s program is timely as San Francisco plans to build a new cruise ship terminal that will double or triple cruise traffic in San Francisco Bay. From 1993 to 1998 alone, cruise ships were involved in 104 detected and confirmed cases of illegal discharges of oil, garbage, and hazardous wastes, and paid more than $30 million in fines. A typical cruise ship on a one-week voyage generates approximately 50 tons of garbage, two million gallons of "graywater" (waste water from sinks, showers, galleys and laundry), 210,000 gallons of sewage, 35,000 gallons of oil-contaminated water, and untold amounts of hazardous waste. The program is being presented by the Commonwealth Club of California’s Environment and Natural Resources Section in association with Bluewater Network, an environmental advocacy group based in San Francisco that advocates for clean vessels and vehicles.