Discharge of sewage barred in the sound

With the summer season in full swing in area harbors, local organizations and officials are spreading the word that Salem Sound is now off-limits to boat sewage - treated or not.

Last month, the 54-square-mile area that includes the sound and adjacent waters was officially designated a no-discharge area, a water zone where federal law prohibits the discharge of vessel sewage, treated or untreated. In other areas, treated sewage can be discharged.

With the help of local harbormasters and the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the environmental organization Salem Sound Coastwatch has begun an outreach effort to inform the boating public in the sound's five harbors - Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Salem - about the new rule, according to Barbara Warren, the group's executive director.

"Our focus is not enforcement, but education," said Warren, whose group applied for the no-discharge area designation. The state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs on April 28 formally proposed the designation and the US Environmental Protection Agency approved it on June 23.

In addition to informing them about the rule, the outreach effort informs boaters about the sewage pump-out facilities available in the sound region.

"Our belief if that the easier you make it to pump out, the more likely they will do it," Warren said of boaters.

"I think people will be very receptive to it," said Danvers harbormaster Christopher Sanborn. "It's a win-win for everyone. This is the water they are swimming in and boating in. I can't see anyone not wanting clean water."

Westport harbormaster Richard Earle, whose town's waters became a no-discharge area in 1994, said the rule has worked smoothly there. In 2000, Westport was encompassed in a larger Buzzards Bay no-discharge area.

"The key to it is the grant money and the fact that it's free to the boating public," he said of pump-out services. "They are encouraged to use it."

Under federal rules, boaters with an installed marine toilet must have sanitation devices that treat sewage before it is discharged within 3 miles of shore. But in a no-discharge area, sewage must be contained in a sealed tank and then disposed of either in a pump-out facility or by being discharged more than 3 miles off shore. Portable toilets are still permitted on boats without built-in heads, but their sewage cannot be released into the water.

An estimated 7,000 boats are moored in Salem Sound, which in addition to the five harbors includes the North, Danvers, and Bass rivers. About 3,590 boats are large enough to have a built-in head, Warren said. The no-discharge area encompasses the sound and other waters extending east to the 3-mile line.

Currently, there are eight land and vessel-based pump-out facilities in the sound, with two more on the way. All but one offer the service for free through federal grant money provided under the Clean Vessel Act.

Warren said her group prepared a flier and a poster on the new discharge rule and pump-out services. A volunteer from the Coast Guard Auxiliary is distributing those to the 19 marinas and 14 yacht clubs within the affected area.

Later, her group plans to do similar outreach at the sound's five public landings and piers. Information is also available on Salem Sound Coastwatch's website, Salemsound.org.

Salem Sound is among 10 no-discharge areas in Massachusetts. Since its designation, Boston Harbor, which includes waters off Chelsea, Everett, and Winthrop, received approval for its designation. The Patrick administration has established a goal of having the state's entire coast as a no-discharge area.

The Coast Guard is the prime agency in charge of enforcing no-discharge area rules, but the state Environmental Police and local harbormasters also have enforcement authority.

Environmental groups and regulators say even treated sewage can be harmful to the marine environment.

In this area, Warren said bacteria from boat sewage may have contributed to the periodic closures of local beaches.

An anonymous survey of area boaters undertaken in 2005 by Salem Sound Coastwatch found that while 96 percent of respondents said they were aware of federal rules prohibiting the discharge of untreated sewage, 15 percent admitted to engaging in the practice.

At the same time, 86 percent expressed support for having the sound designated a no-discharge area. Warren is hopeful that attitude still prevails.

"I haven't met anybody that's against it," said Salem harbormaster and police sergeant Peter Gifford. "Everyone wants cleaner water."