Marine sanitation laws

[Rich]

Nitrogen and the Bay

The influx of nitrogen into the water column and its effect on life forms is a large question. Sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and having worked on the Chesapeake Bay Program have both given me a limited understanding of the problem. Whenever I go out for more than an hour I have to be concerned about how much room is left in my holding tank. Working for three years running computer models of the hydrology and water quality of the Bay gave me a glimpse of the enormity of the issue in the 68996 square miles of area which the Bay and its watershed encompass.Is it better to dump sewage directly into the water column, eliminating the problem from my boat, or have the tank pumped out, making it someone else's responsiblity? I like to think we have evolved to the point where our laws are efficient enough to properly handle "pumped-out" sewage. Personally, the least I can do is what I am now...regularly visiting the pump out station.

 

[Brian]

Good ol' Government

There is more raw sewage spilled into our waterways with every major rain storm than us boaters will ever dump. How about Vicoria, B.C.? Raw sewage flows 24hrs a day and the whales and seals don't appear to be mutated. The laws are just so the government appears to be doing something about pollution and we're an easy target. Government aside, some boaters just don't know common sense. If you're in a marina or an anchorage, use your holding tank! What if those were your kids swimming off the boat anchored near by. Or how about when you're pumping over board and your wife is rinsing off the dinner plate with the raw water foot pump. Again, common sense! Once you get into open waters though, let it rip!

 

[Lee Urbani]

I'll do my part

As a Chesapeak sailor I have and will continue to pump out and pay the $5.00 at the stations provided. However, if you look at the bay you will notice that one the western shore there are four major metro areas Baltimore, Annapolis, Washington DC and Norfolk when it rains these cities dump tons of trash and waste into the bay. On the Eastern shore which is mostly farms and small towns (the X govenor once called it and I quote "the shithouse side of Maryland"), the farm run off is or seams to be un-stoppable. This includes chemicals and animal waste from poultry, hogs and cattle farms. We were anchored in a quite cove one night on the eastern shore and all was peaceful. The next morning we were awoken by a herd of cattle (we counted 42 head) mid-way up their collective bodies in the cove. At first the kids thought it was funny, but when they left after about 15 minutes the cove was transformed into a cattle toliet. We left at once. Like I said I'll do my part but I would like to see some pressure put on the cities and the farms to clean up their act, too.

 

[Ron]

Wonder Where???

Where do the fish pump out??

 

[Jim Trammell]

Reality

Unfortunately boaters and sailboaters in particular are not represented in the legislative process. We are stuck with high cost non-solutions to the water problem, because the legislators and regulators can feel they have done something to solve the problem. Ignoring farm run off, sewage treatment facilities flush outs, and just plain old municiple dumping, is political reality. No one cares what a few disorganized boat owners think. UNLESS!

 

[Chuck]

Inland Lakes

Pumping out into an inland lake is what bothers me and should bother everyone unless you enjoy hepatitis A. We've had our children vaccinated because we understand that people pump out right from their slip where my kids like to swim. After emails to everyone from the EPA to to our county health department went ignored we don't know what else to do. Any ideas

 

[John]

Regulate pump-out fees

There are some fuel/pump-out facilities in my area that are raping boaters cost-wise. For instance, at one private fuel dock/pump-out, they want $10 for a pump-out if you buy $20 or more worth of fuel, but they chargee $12 if you don't buy $20 worth of fuel. If there are laws that make us pump out, then there should be laws to regulate pump-out fees.Sure, I want to be socially responsible and environmentally friendly to all, including the generations to come. But if it is financially difficult to pump-out, people will find alternatives!

 

[Phil Herring]

Final results

Final results for the Quick Quiz ending 11/6/2000:Are marine sanitation laws...  39% Perfect as they are (99) 30% Too tough (77) 26% Too lenient (68)

 

[Rich Lamond]

Waste Dumping

Having lived at the Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City for the past two months, I must agree with those who are promoting new waste dumping laws. With a small amount of rain, or an unusual tide, one would be surprised at the myriad of goodies available for viewing in the harbor waters. It isn't coming from the boats in the marina, but rather from the sewage city sewage system....untreated. Obviously the waste treatment systems available to boaters today would produce far less coliform bacteria per gallon than a sewer trout passing by with the tide. I think its time that legislation be passed to allow treated waste from boat to be discharged. Its a whole lot cleaner than what we are currently floating in.

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

Rich, except in areas designated "no discharge"..

The discharge of treated waste IS legal. However, treatment devices (CG Certified Type I and II MSDs) are considerably more expensive than holding tanks, and need quite a bit of electrical power, making them impractical for use on smaller boats--especially smaller sailboats with limited electrical resources...but not impossible if you're willing to spend the money for the device and additional battery power.Some waters--namely non-navigable freshwater lakes that are municipal water reservoirs--should be "no discharge". But in coastal salt waters, "no discharge" laws only serve to punish the small percentage of boat owners that have installed (or could install) treatment devices...'cuz federal law has required either a treatment device OR a holding for more than 20 years. In many ways, we've really brought "no discharge" on ourselves by continuing to discharge toilets directly overboard instead of installing a tank or treatment device before the choice was taken away from us.

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

$10 is not an unreasonable pumpout fee

And $2 more if you don't buy fuel is hardly "rape." Maintaining a pumpout system is VERY expensive...the initial cost of installation is often 2-3 x the amount of the federal grant. If it can't be connected to a municipal sewer system, it can't go into a septic tank...so that means paying a pumper truck several hundred $$ a week to take it away. Then there's maintenance on the equipment itself, which can run several thousand a year...paying a dockhand--which also means paying for his workmens comp insurance--adds to the bill...although it adds less than repairing self-service systems and replacing what boat owners steal from it. And in your part of the country, the marina only has about 4 months each year in which to take in whatever he can to offset those costs. Fwiw, most marinas here charge for pumpout based on the size of the boat...if your boat is over 30', you'd be paying $20 in some marinas.Methinks you're just looking for an excuse to use "alternatives" to pumping out 'cuz it's a bit of a hassle to go to pump out, but none to just to turn on a macerator in the middle of the lake.