Cruise Ship Pollution

As exhaust emissions poured from the Norwegian Pearl’s exhaust stack on Tuesday, so too did complaints to the Department of Environmental Conservation.

DEC received at least nine calls complaining about the ship’s emissions, and at least one more complaint was lodged electronically, according to Program Manager Ed White, who runs the Commercial Passenger Vessel Environmental Compliance program.

That number is “probably as high as any day that we’ve seen,” White told the Empire on Wednesday. White said he couldn’t comment on whether DEC was in the process of issuing a fine to the Norwegian Pearl as he’s not allowed to comment on ongoing compliance issues.