JoAnn Locktov is a Portland resident and a co-founder of the volunteer advocacy organization Portland Cruise Control. Joey Brunelle is a Portland resident and is on the steering committee of the Portland Climate Action Team.

The majority of cruise ships coming to Portland every season burn heavy fuel oil (HFO), the dirtiest and cheapest fuel on the planet. This tar-like fossil fuel is literally the bottom of the barrel — the residual fuel that no one else wants.

To meet sulfur emission standards, cruise ships have installed exhaust gas cleaning systems, known as “scrubbers.” These devices use live seawater to flush sulfur and contaminants from HFO combustion exhaust, dumping millions of gallons of toxic wash directly into Casco Bay — risking critical microorganisms and the marine environment in the process.

Scrubbers allow the cruise industry to continue profiting from cheap fuel while exporting the damage to our community. The acidified scrubber wash discharges carcinogenic compounds that bioaccumulate in the food web, along with heavy metals, nitrites, nitrates and soot particles — all of it directly into Casco Bay, which supports our iconic lobster industry, recreational sailing, swimming and kayaking.

HFO combustion also generates air exhaust laden with particulate matter, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and black carbon at concentrations that can cause premature death, lung cancer and childhood asthma.

Portland Cruise Control has asked the city to restrict HFO and scrubber use while cruise ships are in port. By changing to a cleaner fuel, scrubbers would no longer be necessary, the wash would be eliminated and air emissions reduced significantly.

The city’s response has been to offer cruise lines a $2 discount per passenger to voluntarily stop poisoning our environment beginning in 2027 with Terminal Tariff No. 11.

It is estimated that switching to a cleaner, low-sulfur fuel would cost cruise lines approximately $3.50 per passenger, making HFO still the more profitable choice, even after the discount. Why would a multibillion-dollar industry voluntarily spend more when it costs less to pollute?

There is a more effective strategy the city can pursue now.

We can make cleaner fuel change a condition of entry into our port through a memorandum of understanding (MoU). Also called community benefit agreements, enforceable arrangements like this have been reached in ports around the world as peer-reviewed science documenting the damage caused by scrubbers has become irrefutable. Coastal communities that rely on healthy waters to support commercial fisheries, aquaculture and sensitive marine ecosystems are no longer willing to sacrifice air quality or marine economies to appease the cruise industry.

Why is Portland willing?

City staff reported that the cruise industry “didn’t seem interested in pursuing” an MoU agreement. Why would they? An MoU creates a negotiated, documented commitment with measurable, enforceable targets. By contrast, the proposed $2 discount is voluntary and unenforceable — insufficient to change behavior. 

When the Portland City Council recently voted to remove a coal pile from the West End because it posed a danger to public health, it established a precedent: polluters do not get to make the rules in Portland. Are we going to allow the cruise lines to dictate our public health and environmental policy?

Being a guest in our port is never a given. There were three deep-water harbors in Maine willing to host the largest cruise ships: Eastport, Bar Harbor and Portland, until residents of Bar Harbor voted to cap passenger numbers. We have the leverage to demand ships stop polluting our community. It is time to use it.