Vol. 2, No. 1 Contents
Headline Back Issues Winter 1997
|
Pumpout programs offer alternatives to dumping Gulf of Maine - Pumpout programs throughout the Gulf of Maine provide recreational boaters with an environmentally sound method for disposing of septic waste and help mariners find the facilities.
Also, as the organic matter in sewage decomposes, bacteria involved in the process use up oxygen needed by fish and other aquatic wildlife. States, provinces, and federal governments in the Gulf of Maine have been campaigning to make mariners aware of the importance of using pumpout stations. In 1992, the US Congress passed the Clean Vessel Act (CVA), administered by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, to help states develop pump-out programs and awareness campaigns. As part of the information campaign, the Sportfishing Promotion Council established 1-800-ASK-FISH, a toll-free number US boaters and anglers can call for pump-out and dump station locations and to report malfunctioning facilities. Currently, Massachusetts is the only state bordering the Gulf that participates in the information line. But the CVA is now due for reauthorization, noted Buell Hollister of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MDMF) and coordinator of that state's pumpout program. Without new federal funding for the program, private entities such as yacht clubs and marinas would have to absorb the cost of maintaining and operating the pumpout stations in the US. Hollister predicted that if they don't get federal funding, some pumpout stations are likely to shut down, making it harder for boaters to properly dispose of their waste. MDMF coordinates 49 pumpout boats, 46 shoreside stations, and 15 dump stations, promoting them with annually updated brochures noting their locations. Last year, Massachusetts boaters used the facilities to divert 465,865 gallons of septic waste from ocean waters, Hollister noted. Grants fund facilities and publicity The CVA has helped other states in the Gulf set up pumpout programs as well. New Hampshire has three pumpout stations managed by the state's Department of Environmental Services, and is installing a fourth in Rye Harbor. The New Hampshire Coastal Program publicizes the stations with pamphlets and stickers distributed to marinas each spring. Maine's 40-plus pumpout stations, many funded through the State Planning Office's Coastal Program, are publicized with public service announcements, and with laminated cards that show the stations' locations and provide telephone numbers and radio frequencies, according to Stephen Cole, senior planner with the Maine Coastal Program. Maine also used some of its CVA funds to provide a grant to Friends of Casco Bay (FOCB), a nonprofit stewardship organization in South Portland, to help the group operate Maine's only pumpout boat. Unlike Hollister, Cole said he would rather pump-out programs not rely on annual federal grants. "If pumpout fees were high enough, the stations could be more self-supporting. Towns and marinas could use the proceeds to maintain and staff the pumpout stations," he said. Noting that the Clean Vessel Act grants limit fees at grant-supported pumpout stations to $5, Cole said, "I don't think that's enough over the long term." The average weekend boater in Maine would probably have to pump out their tanks only two or three times a season, and would be willing to pay more than five dollars each time, Cole asserted. But Bob Pacific, chief of the USFWS Division of Federal Aid, which administers the CVA pumpout grants, said a study done in the northeastern US showed that boaters tend not to use pumpout stations if the fee is more than five dollars. Use of FOCB's pumpout vessel has steadily increased since its arrival in the Bay three years ago, which Associate Director Cheryl Seavey attributes to boaters becoming more educated about the fact that dumping waste into the water can contaminate clam flats and swimming areas, and to the program's convenience. The pumpout boat can empty a vessel's tanks as it sits moored, whether the owner is present or not. FOCB publicizes the program with a brochure it distributes to marinas and other key locations around Casco Bay. Seavey said CVA funding has been important to the program. An end-of-season survey FOCB conducted last year revealed that regular users of the pumpout vessel would be willing to pay more than they currently do for its services. But without any outside funding, "fees would need to be well over $50 a pumpout. This would certainly preclude anyone using it," she said. " Our goal is to get funding for FOCB's Vessel Pumpout Program wherever we can. We're committed to continue the program through this coming season this summer," Seavey noted. Provinces push pumpouts While Canada does not have an equivalent to the US Clean Vessel Act, New Brunswick is waging its own campaign to promote clean boating. The province's Department of Environment (DOE) has set up informational displays at several marinas, and distributes a brochure featuring guidelines for waste disposal and information about its eleven marine pump-out stations. The province's Environmental Trust Fund financially supported construction of the stations as part of the DOE's wastewater management program. Some marinas and private moorings in Nova Scotia have pumpout facilities for septic waste, but the province's Department of the Environment does not operate any itself, according to DOE District Manager Jeff Garnhum. But, he noted, the department encourages boaters to dispose of their septic waste properly at pumpout stations available at marinas. |
||||||||||
PDF Version
Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine
Many recreational vessels are equipped with portable toilets or Marine Sanitation Devices which can be drained at dump stations or pumpout stations where waste is collected for proper treatment and disposal. If, however, boaters simply dump their toilet waste and wastewater directly into the ocean, they are contributing to contamination of shellfish beds and swimming areas with disease-carrying bacteria.