New law would ship ballast water treatment

California is on the verge of blazing a new environmental path with the toughest restrictions in the nation on exotic clams, crabs and other nonnative aquatic species that harm river and Bay environments, threaten water supplies and clog water pipes.

State lawmakers last week sent the governor a bill to require ships entering California ports to treat their ballast water to kill the aquatic species that hitchhike from port to port around the world.