Disgusting and unnecessary

[Tim R.]

BTW, I walk my dog along the waterfront every morning and a few weeks ago I noticed that one of the discharges the city capped is right between where the cruise ships dock.

Last month a cruise ship in Bar Harbor discharged their holding tanks right at the pier in downtown Bar Harbor. The city threatened to fine the cruise ship company but never did because they said the city could not prove the discharge came from their vessel.

So I have a question: Has anyone here ever been caught or fined for overboard discharge?

 

[shemandr]

Cross your legs. Put your thumb and index finger together to make a circle and extend your other fingers and place your palms up. Repeat after me: uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhmmmmmm. uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
It has always been this way, it is this way, it will always be this way. uuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

 

[Chilidog]

So I have a question: Has anyone here ever been caught or fined for overboard discharge?

The Dave Mathews Band.

 

[zeehag]

i have noticed of late that here in san diego bay there is a new and yukky looking growth that looks like turdies but isnt.. it travels with the detritus and junk called tidal rip.......is disgusting but is vegetable not excretory in nature. even the foam of this is tan like a pump out of tankage would be. i first saw it when in my kayak and i almost ralfed. was disgusting... i had to look again to see if i was going to die of e choli poisoning---and that was when i saw it was actuallty a vegetation thingie from the bay. is fooogly. but isnt poo. whew. it had me going there for a minuet--- looking for antibiotix as i paddle....yipes...

i would lay money on the fact that those pumping overboard are the same snotty yotties we get making 6-7 ft wakes in our moorage. lol.. has been fun to live near 3 yr olds who never grow up.

there are also some culverts yet pumping out many hundred thousands of gallons of raw stuff from lovely and modern coronado. has yet to be repaired. is left over from original growth spurt of coronado and is made public every 5 yrs or so. ( last quote was 410,000 gallons pumped out from coronado.....)

 

[RichBone]

An option if you care. I have rigged a hose to allow me to use the macerator pump to pump the holding tank into a 6 gallon plastic container (same as a diesel fuel tank or water tank) that then allows me to pour the resulting liquid waste into a suitable toilet either at home or other location. While a bit nasty it saves having to go out past three miles or constant trips to the pump out dock if you can find one. Just a suggestion. I just disconnect the hose to the overboard discharge and put it in the jug and pump away.

And then when you flush the toilet is it discharged into the water?

Rich

 

[zeehag]

we have pump out docks all over san diego bay--free ones. i believe we dont have to go more than 2 miles to get to one. we are fortunate. some marinas we went to last year had pump outs in the slips--was coool. we also have a pump out service that comes out to the boat. anywhere on the ebay. true--there is no reason to pump out just outside the mouth of san diego bay. even if it is 3 mi out. that is where also the tijuana river spew comes into our bay outflow....

 

[Calif. Ted]

Check the top story about the Navy dumping 17 million gallons of untreated waste into SD Bay because of a "little plumbing mix-up".
http://www.thelog.com/news/logNewsArticle.aspx?a=4&b=14&x=6281

 

[LuzSD]

Zee, thanks, that was really my point, we don't Have to in SD, we have lots of opportunitiy to pump out.

Well, I sure found out what gets everyone here hot, I have now reconsidered and realize, if in deed it was poop, I am actually happy for it, now the local fish are fed, we are living closer to nature as the whales do and I will now set my sites on the really big stuff that I can't do anything about.

Honestly, I do appreciate all of your comments, for the good info and such passion!! Thanks

 

[RichBone]

While we're on the subject-
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101012101255.htm

Rich

 

[kenn]

The Canadians fought for years over this. Pumpout or else the govt said. NO, NO, the boaters said. We'd do it if you put in pump out stations. The govt didn't, and changed the law to allow pumping holding tanks in waters that moved it out.

Are you referring to just saltwater? As far as I know, Canada doesn't allow ANY boat sewage discharge anywhere in the Canadian parts of the Great Lakes or other inland waters. You'll get fined if it's even possible to dump raw sewage from your boat - eg you have a Y-valve which can switch between a holding tank or a straight dump, and the handle hasn't been removed or tie-wrapped to the tank position.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

I dunno where you got that one, Stu...

The Canadians fought for years over this. Pumpout or else the govt said. NO, NO, the boaters said. We'd do it if you put in pump out stations. The govt didn't, and changed the law to allow pumping holding tanks in waters that moved it out.

But the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, both US and Canadian waters, have been "no discharge" under an agreement with Canada since long before there were any US marine sanitation laws. And it's my understanding that ALL the lakes and rivers in Ontario and Quebec are also NDZs.

Canadian flagged boats can't even use portable portapotties...only the permanently installed MSD versions of portapotties are acceptable. Technically, portable toilets aren't acceptable on foreign (US and other) flagged vessels either...but in 20 years I've yet to hear of any US boat that was turned back at the border or ticketed on the waterfor having a portable portapotty .

However, it's legal to flush a toilet directly overboard in the the coastal waters of the Maritime Provinces, with no plans to change that...and only recently on the west coast has Canada created any ND waters...and those are limited to some of the Provincial park anchorages in BC.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Peggie, Pacific NW, Victoria, Nanaimo, way up there. I understand the Great Lakes. Maybe my info is way too old. Corrections always appreciated.

 

[Jalepeno]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Protecting BC Waters From Boat Sewage Discharge[/FONT]

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/epdpa/mpp/boat_sewage.html

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

That list is 5 years old...

And according to it, of the 75 bodies of water on it, only 13 are actually "designated" No Discharge...the rest are still showing "nominated." Of the ones that have been "designated," 4 are lakes...and at least 5 are Provincial Park waters. Not sure what the remaining 4 are...

I try to keep my info current...Are you aware of any that have changed from "nominated" to "designated" since '05? That wouldn't include any places that have installed pumpouts and are only encouraging people to use 'em....but federally mandated "no discharge" waters.

 

[capejt]

Don't get wrong, but....

While I always repsect and obey the rules and regulations regarding overboard discharge, you really have to look at this from a "whole earth" perspective. How is my 5-10 gallon waste tank going to affect the ecological balance of the ocean compared to a multi-ton whale? Sure, there are more boats with 5-10 gallon tanks out there than there are whales, but you see my point. Another is, look at the municipal sewage treatment facitilies along the coast. How many of them overflow and send "toxic" runoff into the rivers and bays every time there's a hard rain? You may be easing your own personal feeling of guilt by pumping out into a municipal system, but it just goes into the same ocean you would have pumped it into anyway.
While attending Maine Maritime Academy I did a term paper for our Oceanography class on the need for waste containment on board pleasure vessels, especially when compared to municipal systems. When you look at things like farm run-off and inadequate sewer systems in our citys and towns, the contribution of pleasure boats to the problem is a mere "gnat on the windshield".
The whole subject of pump-out is nothing more than a governmental display of power in an effort to make everybody feel like they're doing something to help help the environment. In the end it has about as much effect as holding your breath to reduce carbon dioxide levels and thereby fight global warming.

Like everybody else here..... that's just my opinion.

PS- I should add, I'm talking about discharge in open sea and tidal waters, NOT lakes and inland waters!!! That's an entirely differant story!

 

[Gail R]

Maine Sail wrote: Many cities do this while at the same time raising your water bill to "pay for" the fixing of the system that prevents this. We have gone from a $22.00 per month water bill to over $100.00 and they have changed NOTHING.

What makes it even crazier, in addition to that, is that the government FINES the polluting plants, who then raise the rates to pay the bloody fines!!! We as taxpayers and ratepayers get a double whammy.

Those ba*tards.

Yet another dimension. In addition to what Mainesail pays for his monthly bill, here in Maine, nearly every year, voters are asked to approve borrowing millions of dollars for "improvements to public drinking water supplies" or "improvements to wastewater treatment systems." Someday I'll run the numbers on this, but a significant portion of people in this state have their own private wells and septic systems, so they do not get any benefit from these expenditures. Yet they have to pay for the capital improvements which, if Mainesail is correct, are not happening anyway.

Pure robbery.

 

[Jalepeno]

Peggie,
That is the current list, mostly provincial areas (that is why the lakes are included) but it includes Federal areas. The only additions I am aware of is Nanaimo harbour and the new Gulf Islands National Park.

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

It might be worth considering that the Raritan Lectra-San system actually treats onboard sewage in EXCESS of municipal standards; so if you were to visit a pump-out station which processes through the local municipal system, you would actually be polluting more than if you discharged from your own Lectra-San on board.

Sometimes, though many in elected/appointed office demur, we boaters actually ARE more responsible than they are.

 

[Maine Sail]

It might be worth considering that the Raritan Lectra-San system actually treats onboard sewage in EXCESS of municipal standards; so if you were to visit a pump-out station which processes through the local municipal system, you would actually be polluting more than if you discharged from your own Lectra-San on board.

Not allowed in areas designated as NDZ.. Many up this way had to reconfigure or rip them out completely when Casco Bay was designated an NDZ. Very frustrating!!

 

[Johan S.]

IMHO, poop and pee discharged from a boat is far from pollution and I'm sure it doenst hurt a thing. You want to get angry about pollution, get pissed at the Army Core of Engineers and the City planning dept.. Street run-off is slowly killing the bays and estuaries..