Posted by msblucow on April 28, 2003 at 09:58:54:
In Reply to: Re: Clean Water Act. posted by SteveK on April 28, 2003 at 07:38:11:
Here's the entire quote:
"Most of the areas where boats congregate—harbors, anchorage's, and marinas, are naturally sheltered and semi-enclosed. That means these sheltered areas also are not flushed as well as more open waters. The end result is that most pollution that we put there ends up staying there. Bacteria, chemicals, and nutrients contained in human waste from boats can overload small, poorly flushed waterways and cause local water quality problems. Disease carrying bacteria, viruses and protozoa can enter LIS through the direct discharge of boat waste. Direct threats to human health can arise through ingestion of contaminated water or consumption of fish or shellfish which have ingested these pathogens. Scientists have shown there is more bacteria in the untreated waste discharged by one boat than in the treated waste water discharged by a small city."
So it sounds like this is only true if a boat is discharging in a closed environment like a harbor. If a boat is discharging in the open ocean(and I'm not talking about freigters or ocean going cruise ships, just your average recreational vessel or dive boat) Steve's statement would not hold up.
Of course, the preferable way for a boat to treat their waste is the the same way RV's do, use a dump station so that the waste can go through the sewers and end up in a waste treatement plant.