Environmental Challenges

Environmental Challenges

While all major ports, harbors, and marinas are in federally regulated No-Discharge Zones (NDZ), they are experiencing major issues related to water pollution due to both nature and negligence. Incoming tides return waste discharged 3+ miles offshore back to shore, and many boaters lack the facilities to properly maintain their discharge.

These shortfalls are far from being addressed:

• In some areas there is a 2-3 day wait to get a pump-out. In fact, a California survey counted only 30 pump-out stations serving about 20,000 boats.
• Irregular maintenance of pump-out stations results in 50 to 75 percent of them being inoperable.
• There is currently no environmentally sound solution to address leaking engine oil and fuel discharge from the bilge.