ALBANY (AP) -- New York's environmental chief is calling for stronger national standards for ship ballast water blamed for spreading invasive species in the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters.
Ballast water stabilizes ships while they take on or unload cargo. But ships can take on live organisms along with the water and carry them to new places.
State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens says he is concerned about the spread of invasive species in New York's waterways. Martens called for strict ballast water standards in comments to the Environmental Protection Agency, which is considering standards for December 2013 through December 2017.
Martens says the EPA proposal could be strengthened. New York rules scheduled to take effect in 2013 would set live-organism limits 100 times stronger than those proposed by EPA.
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