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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - State lawmakers are weighing whether to ax Alaska's on-board cruise ship inspectors program.
Coast Alaska reported on Friday that Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Jason Brune recently told state lawmakers that the cruise industry is over regulated and that the Ocean Rangers program doesn't do much for the state.
But a series of public records requests by Coast Alaska found that Ocean Rangers have documented a pattern of potentially serious water pollution in the form of foamy, oily sheens discharged by cruise ships.