Keeping waste out of local waters New pump boat, state rules aim to stop boat discharges

By Stephen Tait
Staff Writer

May 15, 2008 01:24 am

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NEWBURYPORT — The city's harbormaster got a new pump boat yesterday from the state's Division of Marine Fisheries — just as another state agency is looking to enact a no-discharge area along the region's coastline and up the Merrimack River.

Together, state officials say the boat and the new regulations will make for a cleaner coastline.

"No one wants to fish, swim or sail in a toilet," said Tom Beaulieu, Marine Fisheries' manager of the Clean Vessel Act Grant program. "You've got to be civically minded on the water. You can get disease from (waste)."

The new boat — a 24-foot, center console model — replaces the first boat Newburyport received in 1995 under the Clean Water Act. The boat pumps human waste from recreational boats in an effort to keep coastal waters free of pollutants. Marine Fisheries paid $37,000 toward the boat, and the city paid about $13,000.

Ralph Steele, the city's harbormaster, said the boat pumps about 14,000 to 16,000 gallons every year. There is also a fixed-site pump at Cashman Park.

"It's always nice to have a new something," he said.

Steele also predicted that this year's flow of waste might be higher because of skyrocketing fuel prices, which are already above the $4-per-gallon mark at marinas.

"We might be doing a lot more this year," he said. "People are going to be sitting and not going anywhere."

The state's Office of Coastal Zone Management is pushing to make the coastline from Gloucester north to the New Hampshire state line, and up the Merrimack River to the Essex Dam in Lawrence, a no-discharge zone.

The zones, which have passed or are pending for almost all other areas of the Bay State coastline, prohibit not only the dumping of raw waste water, but also the dumping of treated waste water — which is not banned by current laws.

Lisa Capone, a spokeswoman for the state's executive office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, which includes the Office of Coastal Zone Management, said CZM hosted three public meetings this spring — including one in Newburyport — outlining the no-discharge zone proposal.

Capone said they are putting together an application, which must be approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, that includes the number of boats in the region, the region's pump-out capacity and other details.

"Without a no-discharge area, boats can discharge treated sewage," she said. "With a no-discharge area, there is no discharge whatsoever. Even with treated discharge, there are still pathogens that get in the water."

Steele said boats that are 60 feet or larger usually have onboard systems that treat wastewater.

"I bet there aren't 25 to 50 in the river here," he said. "But you never know, it is not one of the things we inspect."

It is Gov. Deval Patrick's goal to make the entire coast of the Bay State a no-discharge area, Capone said.

Steele and Beaulieu said current federal law prohibits dumping until a boat is three miles from the coastline, making overlapping regulations.

"It sounds wonderful, but there is already (a no-dumping law) in place," Steele said.

The harbormaster also said he worries about who will enforce the no-discharge area.

"Enforcement is going to be a major, major issue," Steele said.

Capone said it could be either local harbormasters or the state's Environmental Police.

"We are hoping, however, that greater public awareness that NDAs will bring will result in voluntary compliance by most boaters," Capone said in an e-mail.

Steele said he questions if enforcement is even possible.

"How do you manage it? How do you go about it?" he said. "Do you sample the water below the boats? There is nothing out that I know of that says how to do it, what to do."

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