No Discharge Zones - Defending Penobnsot Bay Water Quality

Defending the water of Maine’s Territorial Sea from megayacht sprawl to the Cruise Ship  industry.

 Ron Huber, Penobscot BayWatch

Global warming and global warfare are directing more and more cruise ships and megayachts to the peaceful Gulf of Maine. Each of these vessels is a significant discharger of graywater and treated sewage, which affects the water habitats of our coastal fishes, clams, mussels, seals, seabirds, and all their kin. With  limited controls at present, such discharges taint the water these must breath and live in, and can close and reclose beaches and clam flats to our own uses.

Fig 1 Existing Maine NDAs. None east of Mt Desert. NH NDA lower left.

It is time for Maine to join New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and commit to designating our state's entire territorial sea a No Discharge Area.

 NDAs are places like Casco Bay and Boothbay Harbor, where, according to NOAA "adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably
available". In those coastal reaches it is forbidden to dump even “treated” boat sewage, sincethe (usually self service) pumper is easily available  

Thus they are called “pumpout stations”. Like those for motorhomes and vacation trailers, a hose is connected to the boat's septage holding tank and its contents are pumped ashore into a landside holding tank for later disposal at a sewage treatment plant.

It can only be designated if "adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably available". How is that done? By installing pumpout stations for recreational boaters. 

Pump out stations for boats are the same as those for RV's: a hose is connected and the pumpout is powered up, sending the boat's sewage into a landside holding tank for later disposal at the local sewage treatment plant. 

Existing Maine NDAs are far apart. There are None on the downeast Maine coast from the Canadian border southwest to Mt Desert Island, where one protects Bar Harbor and neighbor towns.

EXISTING MAINE NDAs

Unlike her sister New England states, Maine has designated only  4  portions of her coast as NDAs:

• All of Casco Bay
• All of Boothbay Harbor
• Penobscot Bay’s Camden, Rockport & Rockland adjoining harbors
• Mount Desert/SW Harbor/Tremont water complex. 

Boothbay Harbor, for example, was designated a No Discharge Area in 2009 after the US EPA found that  "The information submitted to EPA by the state of Maine certifies that there are six pumpout facilities located within this area... EPA has determined that adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels are reasonably available for the area covered under this determination. " (full federal register notice)  

The important next step: Designate Penobscot Bay an NDA. 
At present there are NOT enough pumpout stations in Penobscot Bay to provide "adequate facilities for the safe and sanitary removal and treatment of sewage from all vessels".

Fig 2. Penobsot Bay pumpout stations

 As the state's map (Fig 2) shows Vinalhaven, North Haven*, Islesboro and Deer Isle each lack pump out stations. These towns are visited by hundreds of pleasure boaters every year. But boaters stopping there have no place to dump their waste - except into Penobscot Bay!
 (* North Haven's Pulpit Harbor is visited by a pumpout boat from Camden)

What You Can Do:  

* Contact the govts  of Vinalhaven, North Haven, Islesboro and Deer Isle Urge them to get pumpouts. Let them know that giving skippers a place to discharge their septic wastes in an environmentally safe way, is good for their towns' waters and good for Penobscot Bay.   

Tell them that Maine DEP will cover 95% of the purchase cost and operating costs. Ask them to start the process  by requesting Maine DEP to send its expert, Pam Parker,  to give a presentation to their town.  Parker has been running this program successfully for many years and will be able to answer questions in detail. 

Letters to the editor will also help as will discussion of the need for pumpouts on these towns' facebook pages. Here are the FB Pages for Vinalhaven  North Haven, Islesboro  & Deer Isle. 

* Send Friends of Penobscot Bay your photos of pleasure craft tied up at those town's docks and mooring fields, and anchored in their anchorages, over this just-past summer of 2018.  In addition, aerial photos and drone imagery will be very helpful.  Knowing how many pleasure craft are visiting those  towns will help Maine DEP determine if the bay would benefit by having pumpout stations at their town docks.

The Big Picture.  Once these towns have gotten their pumpout operations  set up, there will be enough of these stations  for the state to request EPA to designate the entirety of Penobscot Bay, like Casco Bay and the full coastal waters of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, a No Discharge Area.  This will be a giant step toward designating the entire Maine territorial sea out to three miles a No Discharge Area.

Figure 3. Cruise ship routes, Penobscot Bay to Bar Harbor

This matters now more than ever.  Increases in visits by cruise ships & megayachts means that the amount of treated sewage being pumped into Penobscot Bay is likely increasing  sharply as well. While cruiselines may have policies against dumping in state waters, there are no penalties, so little incentive to refrain. Making it illegal to pump treated sewage into Penobscot Bay will give such policies teeth.

Let's urge Islesboro, North Haven, Vinalhaven and Deer Isle to take the plunge for a clean, productive and healthy Penobscot Bay and Gulf of Maine!

FMI Friends of Penobscot Bay 207-691-4634,  coastwatch@gmail.com