New ferry needs air-pollution controls

District trying to build one more dirty diesel before new rules kick in

The Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District Ferry Division is trying to build one more ferry that fails to meet strict new pollution standards.

The District plans to use $12 million in federal grants to build a 499-passenger high-speed diesel ferry to add peak capacity to its service between Larkspur and San Francisco. Delivery of the new vessel is scheduled for 2009 just before new state and federal regulations for ferry-engine emissions standards go into place.

Diesel exhaust is a major source of deadly particulate matter and smog-forming emissions. Exhaust from marine engines using existing technology is so notoriously dirty that both state and federal governments have proposed regulations requiring cleaner engines for vessels placed in service in 2009.

The District should build its ferry to the new standards set in state law for vessels being built for the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority. Cost-effective air-pollution-control technology is already available and in use on San Francisco Bay by ferries such as the MV Solano.

San Francisco Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, also a member of the Bridge District Board of Directors, has introduced a resolution before the District's Board calling for the new ferry to meet the new standards.

WhatYouCanDo

Attend a public hearing on the new ferry on Friday, July 13, at 10:00 am at the Golden Gate Bridge District offices at the Toll Plaza. Also contact Golden Gate Bridge District Board Chair John J. Moylan at:

P.O. Box 9000
Presidio Station
San Francisco, CA 94129
DistrictSecretary@goldengate.org

Urge the Board to apply strict air-pollution standards to its new ferry.

Teri Shore, Friends of the Earth (formerly Bluewater Network)