Cruise ship dumping opponents going to State House

NAHANT – The struggle to ensure cruise ships are not dumping in Massachusetts waters continues at the State House Wednesday as Nahant residents speak from their own experience.Vi Patek, president of Safer Waters in Massachusetts, has been rallying for legislation against cruise ships dumping their waste too close to shore ever since a luggage tag from the MS Maasdam, a Holland America cruise ship, showed up on a Nahant beach in a mess of macerated sewage in August 2012.More than a year later, Patek will be testifying on behalf of House Bill 3505, proposed legislation she worked on with Rep. Steve Walsh, Sen. Thomas McGee and Rep. Robert Fennell to prevent any “passenger vessel operating within the marine boundaries of the commonwealth” from disposing or discharging “solid waste or macerated sewage of any kind” into the water.?This affects not only Nahant, but the whole region,” said Patek.The bill could change the dumping limit from three miles offshore to 12, said Patek. In July, as the bill awaited a public forum, Patek said she really just wants cruise ships to know that people are concerned. “I hope the Aquasino is abiding by the laws,” she said of the Lynn-based vessel.Wednesday, Patek, Nahant residents and six SWIMers will get their opportunity to have their voices heard by the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, with either spoken or written testimony to convince the committee of the need for the legislation.The committee will be accepting registration for testimony Wednesday starting at 12:30 p.m. for the 1 p.m. hearing. For more information and detailed directions, go to https://malegislature.gov/Events/EventDetail?eventId=812&eventDataSource=Hearings.