Dometic today responded to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recently proposed additional No Discharge Zones in the Boston, MA and New York areas. Once formalized, within such designated areas the discharge of all boat sewage is banned and boaters must dispose of their sewage at pump-out facilities.
Jim Kerrigan, VP of OEM Sales for the Americas said, “Over the last 30 years we have been encouraging boat owners to enjoy boating responsibly and not discharge sewage directly into the sea. We are delighted to see the EPA continue its valuable work to protect the marine environment, and we will do our utmost to support their ongoing ‘clean water’ initiatives.”
It has been long acknowledged that dumping sewage overboard in boating waters has a detrimental effect on water quality, marine life and the health of people who may enter the water. No Discharge Zones are set up to protect aquatic habitats as well as to protect drinking water intake zones to safeguard human health.
The seven proposed areas are New York State’s Long Island Sound and the coastal waters of six Cape Cod towns – Chatham, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown. For such a ban to be considered, individual States must prove that there are adequate facilities for boats to pump out their holding tanks.
Kerrigan continued, “The length of time that a boat can cruise in “No Discharge” waters is governed by the capacity of its fitted holding tank and the amount of flushing water required by the on-board toilets. To help boaters easily comply with growing NDZ regulations, our SeaLand® holding tanks store sewage securely and safely until the vessel returns to shore. In fact, our most efficient SeaLand systems combine a holding tank with our VacuFlush® toilets which use about 33% less water than traditional marine toilets. This produces less wastewater, so more flushes are achieved before the holding tank reaches capacity and requires pumping out.”
Kerrigan concluded, “The sea water pollution attributable to the discharge of sewage from recreational boaters is small, but we believe that a boat owner should take responsibility for his environmental footprint. We publish our own Clean Water Advisory, ‘Cleaning Up Our Waters’, which is available from our website at www.dometic.com/cleanwater and from our booths at all boat shows we attend. This gives boat owners advice on fitting holding tanks that will secure sewage on-board until the vessel is pumped out.”
SeaLand® and VacuFlush® are registered trademarks of Dometic Corporation.
Further information on the EPA and its valuable work can be found at www.epa.gov