For the first time I've had to look for a pump-out for my holding tank, and start making inquiries. Despite the size and business of Victoria's port, there are only two pump outs, both private, one not working, and until today, the other wasn't working either. Cost? $20.00. The resulting effluent will then be run through Victoria's sewers, and then dumped untreated in the Jaun deFuca Straight.
I live in a liveaboard marina where there are no sewage hookups, and many boats never leave their slips. There are other marinas in the harbour that also have no sewage hookup and have liveaboards.
The regs clearly stipulate that no blackwater is to be discharged into the harbour, and yet there is no policing, no enforcement, and it will cost you to discharge legally, if you can find a pumpout that works.
Up to now I've discharged more or less legally into deep major bodies like Haro Straight and Juan deFuca, but now that I see that the regs are being ignored, are not enforced, little is done by authorities to actually make the system work (working public pumpouts) the city pumps effluent untreated, and the harbour itself is already listed as a federal toxic waste site after 100 years of industrial contamination, I'm thinking it's all a joke and the poo should go over the side along with everyone else's, to mix with the brew of PCB's, dioxins, heavy metals and whatever else is out there.
Can somebody make an argument that this would be wrong?
I live in a liveaboard marina where there are no sewage hookups, and many boats never leave their slips. There are other marinas in the harbour that also have no sewage hookup and have liveaboards.
The regs clearly stipulate that no blackwater is to be discharged into the harbour, and yet there is no policing, no enforcement, and it will cost you to discharge legally, if you can find a pumpout that works.
Up to now I've discharged more or less legally into deep major bodies like Haro Straight and Juan deFuca, but now that I see that the regs are being ignored, are not enforced, little is done by authorities to actually make the system work (working public pumpouts) the city pumps effluent untreated, and the harbour itself is already listed as a federal toxic waste site after 100 years of industrial contamination, I'm thinking it's all a joke and the poo should go over the side along with everyone else's, to mix with the brew of PCB's, dioxins, heavy metals and whatever else is out there.
Can somebody make an argument that this would be wrong?