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Water Quality - Sewage Pumpouts - Boat Heads - and EPA "No Discharge Zones"
Our recommendation from this website is to enforce
existing laws regarding discharge of sewage from boats in the harbor, but more
importantly to open up flow back through the harbor that was closed years ago.
We can't defend boaters discharging waste into the harbor, but in truth this is
not a major contributing factor in Keys water pollution (see the EPA report). We
encourage the use of the pumpouts and "honey-barge". We discourage the
implementation of the EPA "No-Discharge" zone. It's a nice sounding name but is
redundant and unnecessary. The enforcement of existing laws should be done with
the utmost courtesy to both resident and transient boaters. This means boarding
boats for inspections only during reasonable daytime hours - not evenings or
nights, and boardings done occasionally at random or with cause. No boat should
ever be required to show up at a dock for inspection as a requirement to enter
the harbor. Boarding officers should dismiss any inspections of boats that
display a current Vessel Safety Check sticker provided by the USCG Auxiliary or
US Power Squadrons.
According to the EPA reports cited on the pages below
(and available through the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary), boats account for less than
1.5% of all Keys water pollutants. All of the rest
is from shore side sources, including the 7 million gallons per day of
"almost raw" sewage that Key West pumps in the water about 100
yards off the beaches. We want the water quality of Boot Key Harbor to be
maintained to a high degree so we can all fish and swim in the harbor. We
believe the way to achieve this is to provide more pumpout services
including a honey barge, and - importantly - to open up some of the "dead-end"
creeks and culverts into the Harbor that were closed long ago. This will
dramatically improve the flow of tidal water through the harbor to keep it
clean. We'd encourage a boater education program for the proper disposal of
waste, and initiate tracing and enforcement actions for violators under
existing laws. EPA No Discharge zones are not required to enforce existing
boating sewage laws. As of 2002 there are at least 2 operational pumpouts in
Boot Key Harbor, in addition to a "honey-barge".
*Note: Sept 2000, by GT Absten: Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ), chair of the
Fisheries, Conservation, Wildlife & Oceans subcommittee of the US House
of Representatives has recently introduced a bill, H.R. 4917 which
addresses the inconsistencies of no discharge zones and onboard treatment
systems. Several states including RI have declared all of its waters
"no discharge" zones. Boat U.S. National Advisory Council
member Chuck Husick has for a number of years tried to inform officials
that effluent from today's properly operating marine sanitation devices (msd)
is cleaner than that discharged by most onshore sewage treatment facilities
(and absolutely better than that of Key West's). Rep. Saxtons bill upgrades
the 20 year old MSD standards to reduce the allowable fecal coliform count
from 1,000 per 100 ml to 10 per 100 ml, and allow boatowners that use such
devices to be exempt from a state's "no treatment" zone. This
level of current technology is far superior to that even envisioned by the
Clean Water Act of 1972.
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