Florida Legislators Tussle Over Cruise Ships Dumping Offshore

A legislative attempt to stop gambling cruise ships to stop dumping their sewage at sea is going down fast in the state of Florida.

Senator Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, said he is blocking SB 444 from being taken up in the Senate. The bill would require a one-year study of exactly what the state’s dozen day cruise ships discharge, and the impact on the ocean.

The problem, Bennett says, is Rep. Bob Allen’s effort to swap Bennett’s study with his own House bill, which requires the day cruise industry to pay to pump its sewage off at shore. The Port of Canaveral, where several such ships dock, has already built facilities to take that sewage.