September 27, 2011 Great Lakes Ballast Water Collaborative Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland

October 7, 2019

On September 27, 2011, the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) and the International Joint Commission (IJC) co-hosted the fifth full-scale meeting of the Great Lakes Ballast Water Collaborative (BWC) in Baltimore, Md. Approximately 70 representatives from the shipping industry, ballast water treatment technology industry, state and federal governments, and academia attended the daylong meeting. In addition to the meeting, the BWC met in Baltimore to support the dedication of the Maritime Environmental Research Center’s (MERC) barge-based Mobile Test Platform. The 155-foot $2.7 million floating laboratory is part of the research fleet operated by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

The goals of this meeting were for participants to: (1) gain a better understanding of the research being done on ballast water movement and treatment in the Great Lakes; and (2) continue discussions about ballast water treatment system (BWTS) technology, research, and policies. The BWC was formed to facilitate the exchange of information and cultivate relationships among academia, the shipping industry, policy makers, and other stakeholders in the ongoing challenge to maintain a cost-effective modern shipping industry while also preventing invasive species from entering North American waters, specifically the waters of the Great Lakes.