Three Virginia shipyards are seeking legislation in the General Assembly that could delay for more than a decade their compliance with Virginia’s water quality standards for tributyltin, one of the most toxic chemicals ever made.

“This is not a reasonable request for a short-term delay,” said Joseph H. Maroon, Virginia Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). “The shipyards’ bill could allow them to continue to ignore TBT controls for more than a dozen years – at the expense of the Chesapeake Bay.

“What the yards are asking goes well beyond what is necessary and environmentally responsible,” Maroon added. “Additionally, the bill would establish a bad precedent of legislation over-riding permit requirements.”

Tributyltin, or TBT, is a chemical added to boat anti-fouling paints applied to the hulls of ships. It enters Chesapeake Bay waters in several ways, including discharges from shipyards.

Potent enough to kill aquatic life in minute levels, TBT has been described as the most toxic chemical ever intentionally released into the marine environment. The U.S. Congress has banned TBT use on small recreational vessels, the U.S. Navy voluntarily stopped using TBT on its vessels a decade ago, and the International Maritime Organization recently voted to support a global voluntary ban of TBT by 2003.

Three Hampton Roads shipyards -- Norfolk Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. (Norshipco), Collona’s Shipyard and Lyon Shipyard – have asked the 1999 General Assembly to delay enforcement of TBT permit limits. The yards cite a state and federally funded study being conducted by the Center for Advanced Ship Repair and Maintenance (CASRM) that will take approximately 2˝ years to complete. Once the study is completed, the shipyards should be able to meet their TBT limits continuously. However, the shipyard bill introduced last week in the legislature could delay enforcement of TBT permit limits for as long as 12 1/2 years.

“What is of equal concern is the lack of effort these shipyards have made until recently to comply with the TBT permit limits,” Maroon said. “Norshipco did not start to address the problem until 1997, one year before its initial permit limit was to become effective, and Collona’s and Lyon shipyards have not publicly disclosed any compliance efforts.

“The yards have known for the last 10 years they had to meet these standards. Now, under the guise of seeking ‘temporary’ relief from pending permit limits, they are trying to avoid compliance until beyond 2012, according to the language of their bill.”