Marinas going green while trying to stay in the black

“Our livelihoods depend on the ocean, and the quality of the ocean we offer to boaters,’’ said Mac Donaldson, general manager of Manchester Marine.

Since the fall of 2007, Manchester Marine has been using a closed-loop pressure washing system to clean the hulls of boats it services. About four months ago, the ma rina implemented an on-site recycling program. It uses waste oil to heat mechanic and carpentry shops in the winter, and has other new practices that limit pollution.

But it isn’t easy being green. The marinas dotting the coastlines of northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire are continuously grappling with federal and state regulations, the growing consumer demand to be clean and green, and the cost that entails.

During the 1990s, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched a voluntary Clean Marina Initiative, and began to encourage states to implement programs to help promote best management practices.

Since then, nearly all the coastal and Great Lakes states have signed on to participate. Twenty states and the District of Columbia offer a program to certify marinas as “clean’’ if they meet certain criteria. Rhode Island and Connecticut have certification programs. While New Hampshire and Massachusetts do not certify, they offer technical assistance, including educational workshops and guides. They also work closely with marinas on how to keep the marine environment clean beyond what is mandated.

Robin Lacey, clean marina specialist at the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, is a point person for the state’s version of a clean marina program. He estimates he spends at most 30 percent of his time on clean marina issues, and has worked hard to build a rapport with marinas to show that compliancy and green practices can be within reach.

While a certification program has not been ruled out for the state, there is no funding for it now, Lacey said. Moreover, he is not convinced that the marinas necessarily want it. Beyond the marketing boost, it has very little meaning, he said. There is no regulatory benefit, and no conclusive proof that there is a business incentive.

Some marinas see a certification program in terms of the dollars it will cost them to achieve the status, and they are not sure it is worth the extra expense.

But Donaldson of Manchester Marine disagrees. He would love to see the state create a certification program. “We get marketing leverage out of saying we are a green marina,’’ Donaldson said. “It’s leverage we don’t get to use.’’

One of the larger issues that marinas face is EPA requirements for pressure washing. Whenever a hull is washed, organic matter, paint, and other debris are blasted off, which, if not properly contained and treated, can pollute the water.

Last fall Lacey’s office distributed to marinas a new pressure washing guide to help them understand the regulations.

“Pressure washing is a big issue of noncompliance with marinas,’’ Lacey said. “But since we have been beating the drum about this, a lot more marinas are following better practices.’’

Cape Ann Marina in Gloucester was one of the first in the area to implement one of the new pressure washing systems. It uses a pretreatment system that filters out contaminants and ensures the water is clean enough to enter city sewers. Other marinas, such as Manchester Marine and the Merri-Mar Yacht Basin, in Newburyport, chose a closed-loop system, which treats and recycles the water and dramatically reduces the amount of town water the marinas use.

But these systems are not cheap - they range from $30,000 to $75,000 - so the pressure washer topic remains a sensitive one, said Paul Richards, an environmental engineer and the senior program director at EBI consulting, which designs the systems.

“Marinas believe it is expensive to comply with the [EPA’s] requirement, and some do not necessarily understand or believe it is necessary,’’ Richards said. “Others are bothered by the change in general - we’ve been doing it this way for years. Why do we have to change now?’’

The smaller marinas, in particular, are concerned about cost. Russ Vickers, owner of Hawthorne Cove, in Salem, is working with Lacey’s office to demonstrate that the filtration system in place is in compliance. He hopes to avoid having to install a new system.

“The cost of the new systems is a problem - especially for the smaller yards,’’ Vickers said. “They can’t afford to put in place a $60,000 system if they only wash 20 boats a year. Owners and operators are trying to be responsive, but it comes with serious economic considerations.’’

Crocker’s Boatyard, in Manchester by the Sea, is in the process of installing a new system, but with the slow economy, Skip Crocker, the marina’s owner, noted how expensive it is.

“The cost of doing business is driving marinas out of business,’’ Crocker said. “Every time we turn around there is something else we have to comply with.’’

Frank Rose, general manager of Rose Marine in Gloucester, who has been under recent pressure by the EPA to change some business practices, said he has started reading his customers “the riot act.’’

“I give them a list of all the things they can’t do this year that they could do last year - no spray painting, don’t leave an empty paint can under the boat, dispose of your brushes properly,’’ Rose said.

Some marinas include environmental conditions in their contracts with customers, such as Cape Ann Marina. Tobin Arsenault, vice president of the marina, said it’s been a gradual process with new conditions added every year. “Educating the customer is always a challenge,’’ Arsenault said. The most consistent guideline across marinas is the requirement for dustless sanders, which are offered for rent.

A lot of progress has been made in state, but there is still more to do, according to Lacey.

“It’s a steep hill,’’ he said. “The same way you make sure stuff doesn’t fall on the kitchen floor when you are making dinner at night, you have to work to contain materials at a marina.’’