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Maine Aims to Expand Discharge Prohibition Along Coast

December 31, 2008 - AUGUSTA -- Maine's Department of Environmental Protection is seeking federal approval to declare the coastal waters of Kennebunkport, Kennebunk and Wells off-limits to any discharge of treated or untreated sewage from boats – a designation already found throughout most of the rest of New England.

The Maine DEP also is preparing applications to extend the same protection to other parts of York and Cumberland counties, as well as the Camden and Rockland areas and part of Mount Desert Island, a DEP official said.

The actions are part of an effort that began in 2000, when the state set out to create a network of shoreside sewage disposal stations for boaters – a critical step toward the formal ban on dumping. Casco Bay became Maine's first federal no-discharge zone nearly three years ago, and remains the only one along the state's coast.

No-discharge zones cover the entire coastlines of Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire, as well as most of the Massachusetts coast. But creating the designation in Maine has proved to be a daunting task in a state with 3,500 miles of coastline and relatively few places where a boater can get rid of waste the right way.

"The coast of Maine has more coastline than the rest of New England put together, and fewer facilities," said Pam Parker, the DEP official who is the part-time coordinator, and only person, assigned to the no-discharge effort.

No-discharge zones add a higher level of protection to coastal waters, and a clearer message to boaters and marinas that they're responsible for protecting water quality.

"The impact that untreated wastes can have on a water body is significant," Parker said. "People sit on their boats and think, 'My little amount of waste is not contributing.' (But) a little waste here and little waste there, and pretty soon you're talking about a lot of bacteria."

According to the Friends of Casco Bay, the untreated sewage from two boaters in one weekend pollutes the water as much as the treated sewage from a city of 10,000 people.

The bacteria makes water unhealthy for human contact, while nutrients in the wastes also can affect aquatic organisms.

It is already illegal to discharge raw sewage within three miles of land, but a no-discharge zone also prohibits the release of partially treated sewage from marine toilets and storage tanks. It remains legal to discharge the waste more than three miles offshore.

If approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Maine's newest zone would include the Kennebunk River, which has been identified as a top priority because of the number of boats and poor flushing from tidal currents.

Some swimming beaches in the area have had problems with elevated bacteria levels in recent years, although the causes remain unknown.

"We're hoping to have a positive effect on those issues," Parker said.

The new zone also would contain the Wells Estuarine Research Reserve and the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. The area has nearly 20,000 acres of salt marshes, and 11 beaches that attract both tourists and endangered piping plovers and least terns, the DEP said.

There are an estimated 537 boats in the area, about 195 of which have marine toilets or storage tanks of some kind, according to the DEP.

And there are now five pumpout facilities at marinas and public landings in and around the Kennebunk River where boat owners can empty their holding tanks legally. It typically costs $5 to pump out a 20-gallon tank, although some private marinas charge much more.

Parker said she is hoping that, as no-discharge zones expand, Maine boaters will demand more convenient and inexpensive pumpouts.

Marinas that can accommodate at least 18 boats that are 24 feet long or larger are required to provide pumpout facilities. And smaller facilities that use federal grant money to build pumpouts have to keep them working and accessible.

Although most marinas now have the required facilities, Parker said the DEP soon will begin issuing its first violation notices against noncompliant operators.

The agency also is working to hire someone with plumbing and electrical skills who can be dispatched to help repair private pumpout facilities, Parker said. Some have remained inoperable for extended periods, including in Casco Bay, and that situation has frustrated some boaters who want to follow the rules.

While eager to expand the no-discharge zones in Maine, federal officials say they understand the challenges.

"Maine's done a phenomenal job," said Ann Rodney of the EPA's regional office in Boston. "Their coastline is thousands of miles long and their boating pockets are so far away from each other."

Even without large protected zones along the coast, the state's effort has helped boaters and marinas protect Maine's coastal waters, Parker said.

"Our goal has been to have 100 priority marinas have pumpout stations within four miles," she said. "Right now we have 83 percent of that done."

By JOHN RICHARDSON, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, December 27, 2008


Lakes:
Regions: Sebago, Calais, Mid Coast, Downeast


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