The EPA levied a heavy penalty of $475,000 against the cruise line operator, Royal Caribbean International, for allegedly not having adequate documentation regarding trash handling and treatment from eight ships.
On review in Galveston, Texas, the EPA found discrepancies in the documentation between the offloading of solid and hazardous trash between 2019 and 2024.
Royal Caribbean was found to have failed in some of the main reporting requirements under RCRA despite that violation having no direct environmental impact.
Those include inadequate record keeping and improper separation of hazardous waste as well as missing reports in every biannual year.
The cruise company demonstrated a commitment to sustainability by agreeing to be part of the settlement process.
A Royal Caribbean spokesperson reconfirmed the company’s concentration on best-in-class environmental policies when they said, “The alleged claims involved documentation errors and not environmental impact.”
Besides the fine, Royal Caribbean should have, within 180 days from today, demonstrate compliance with waste management regulations through amendments of its SOPs, proper record-keeping of wastes generated, and reporting to the EPA.
This fine emphasizes the importance of following environmental standards and has proven that all the efforts of the EPA in ensuring public health and natural resources are safe from hazardous waste are justified.
