m a r i n e advice 



?w Laws Ma 



Waves With Marinas 



Coastal marinas are a flash point in 

 the simmering debate over water 

 quality. 



In the eyes of boating enthusiasts, 

 they're a safe mooring place and a 

 valuable point of entry to open water. 

 To some others, the contaminants that 

 seep from marinas are a threat to 

 productive estuarine waters. 



Both points have merit, says 

 Rich Novak, a Sea Grant marine 

 advisory specialist. Yet it's 

 possible to have easy marina 

 access and measures to keep the 

 water clean of boaters' sewage 

 and polluted runoff. 



Increasingly, state and 

 federal laws are shepherding 

 marinas toward environmentally 

 sensitive management practices 

 that will protect our coastal 

 waters and natural resources. The 

 impacts of these laws can be felt all 

 along North Carolina's coast, where 

 more than 300 marinas rent slips and 

 provide commercial services. 



But many marina operators are 

 still in the dark about the changing 

 regulations. Novak and Spencer 

 Rogers, Sea Grant's coastal engineer- 

 ing specialist, want to take the message 

 to the docksides. 



"Marinas are a congregation of 

 people," Novak says. "And with that 

 comes the potential to pollute. Whether 

 we say they're polluting or not, we see 

 potential because marinas are on the 

 water and could cause problems." 



First, Novak is educating boaters 

 and marina operators about the Clean 

 Vessel Act. Backed by Congress, this 

 program will offer $40 million in 

 grants over five years to help states 

 build pumpout and dump stations for 

 boaters' sewage and educate them to 

 use the equipment. Pumpout stations 

 are used to pump the waste from 



holding tanks; dump stations are used 

 to empty portable toilets. 



Pumpouts are available at 40 of 

 181 coastal marinas that responded to 

 a recent survey by the N.C. Division 

 of Coastal Management. The surveys 

 were sent to 293 marinas in the coastal 

 counties. Among those responding, 

 25 had pumpouts open to the public. 



Typically, marinas install pump- 

 outs when they seek a permit to 

 renovate or build, Rogers says. But use 

 is low because an estimated 90 percent 

 of boaters still dump their waste over- 

 board, often in violation of federal law. 



The Coastal Management survey 

 found that pumpouts were used about 

 1,300 times in 1991. The fee, ranging 

 from free to $50, was the most influen- 

 tial factor in the use of public pump- 

 outs. 



The survey also found that 14 of 

 the responding marinas planned to 

 install pumpout services within the next 

 two years. Among the 103 that didn't 

 offer the service, 79 percent cited lack 

 of demand as the reason. 



"The marinas haven't seen an 

 increase in requests for pumpouts," 

 Rogers says. "In part because of that, 

 they've not seen fit to invest $5,000 to 

 $10,000 on motorized equipment and 

 connections to land-based treatment 

 systems." 



One point is clear, Novak says. 

 Boaters must be educated to use the 

 equipment and shoulder the responsi- 

 bility for water quality. 



Novak is part of a Sea Grant effort 

 to secure pumpout funds for the region. 

 The money, awarded by the U.S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service, is part of the 

 Wallop-Breaux fund raised through 

 taxes on fishing equipment 

 and fuel. 



But boaters' sewage isn't the 

 only water quality concern for 

 marinas. Polluted runoff, 

 also called nonpoint pollution, 

 is another. 



Novak explains that marinas 

 • - z can contaminate water by sand- 

 blasting and cleaning boats with 

 ii? toxic bottom paints and other 

 S§ pollutants. Also, fuel can spill 

 into the water, and the paved 

 area is an easy avenue for pollution 

 to wash away. 



As a result, marinas are being 

 called on to engineer stormwater 

 runoff plans and impoundments. 



North Carolina is among 29 states 

 with a federally approved coastal zone 

 management program that must submit 

 new nonpoint pollution control pro- 

 grams to the Environmental Protection 

 Agency and the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration by July 

 1995. Congress required this in its 

 Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization 

 Amendments of 1990. 



If marinas are heavily renovated, 

 they may be subject to stricter siting 

 and design standards suggested by 

 EPA. The EPA guidelines may be 

 adopted as law by most states, but 

 boating interests have a two-year 

 window to negotiate, Novak says. 

 The nonpoint pollution control 

 programs must be in place by 1999. 



Jeannie Faris 



20 MAY/JUNE 1993 



