Discharge Fines? And are sinks included?

[zaliasvejas]

I read somewhere that as long as you do not use anything attached to the boat, you are in the clear...
As long as you poop directly into the water, you are not using your boat... you are not breaking any laws.
How do lobster men do it? Do they adhere to different laws?
Do commercial fishermen have to comply with the MSD regulations?
Well, you might get arrested for indecent exposure...but not by CG.

[LarryandSusanMacDonald]

I have heard it said that boaters contribute less than 1% of the pollution in our waters. I would further observe that the boats are relatively widespread so that the small amount they do produce is more easily absorbed into the eco-system - hey, fish poop, ducks poop, etc. etc. The vast majority of the pollution comes from runoff from farms and lawns and sewage from cities which is not treated to specs. So we boaters save it, pump it out legally, it all gets collected, treated, then dumped back in the water - all in one place! The whole idea seems ludicrous.
The problem is that when it is demanded that something be done, it is difficult, expensive and politically inexpedient to legislate the cities, farms, and the lawn fertilizer industry, so the boater becomes an easy and inexpensive target. All the regulators pat themselves on the back, all the politicians point to their record of pro-active legislation and the problems continue.
We need to rise up, cast off the yoke of political oppression,exercise our right to poop with reckless abandon. In other words, bucket and chuck it for our freedom, for the very salvation of the world, for God and country.

Lip service for all.

[xort]

Larry&Susan
On this Sunday morning an AMEN is appropriate. Sing it brother!

[Fstbttms]

Originally Posted by zaliasvejas

I read somewhere that as long as you do not use anything attached to the boat, you are in the clear...
As long as you poop directly into the water, you are not using your boat... you are not breaking any laws.

Well, technically you are not breaking any discharge laws, which refer to the use of Type I, II or III marine sanitation devices. If you do not use a marine sanitation device you cannot violate a law regulating its use. That's not to say that you might not be violating some other law, but you won't be violating the MSD laws.

That being said, anybody who knowingly violates the MSD laws is an a**hole, IMHO. Anybody advocating violation of MSD laws is an a**hole as well. The effluent from a single discharge from a single boat can contaminate an entire marina. And I earn my living in the water in that marina. So keep your sh*t where it belongs, please.

[sailingdog]

BTW, using a bucket, qualifies as a MSD of a sort...and if you empty the bucket over the side... you've broken the law... The law is written such that if you use any equipment... other than what God gave you... you're breaking the law...

[Jeff_H]

The law is a discharge law. In other words, you can't polute no matter how you do it. Having equipment hard piped to discharge through-hulls just makes it easier to prove that you broke the law. As to the original post, I believe that there is an exception for gray water such as engine cooling water and sink discharges on small boats as long as you are not discharging cooking or engine oil with it.

I agree that this law seems draconian when you consider how small the yachting discharge is relative to the amount of discharge from farms, municipalities, birds, fish etc..... That is until you anchor someplace like St.Michaels or Shaw Bay on a holiday weekend and watch the kids swimming off of boats in the harbor.

Jeff

[LarryandSusanMacDonald]

BTW, using a bucket, qualifies as a MSD of a sort...and if you empty the bucket over the side... you've broken the law... The law is written such that if you use any equipment... other than what God gave you... you're breaking the law...

"Bucket and Chuck it" is just a joke - sheesh! Are we allowed to scooch along the deck to clean the , um, nether region? Then can we rinse the deck of the pelican poop? ANd incidently anything else?

That is until you anchor someplace like St.Michaels or Shaw Bay on a holiday weekend and watch the kids swimming off of boats in the harbor.

You let your kids swim where fish poop? And then let them back aboard? Yuck.

[JiffyLube]

I could pump out at sea if I wanted, but I've found it no problem to pump out at a station. If I wanted to stay gone for a longer period of time, I would put in a larger tank. I don't have a problem with disposing of our waste in a better way, but if we are required to do that, then I think the powers to be should provide us places to do that...so we can comply.

[LarryandSusanMacDonald]

We have an electra-san in our aft head and I'm installing one in our forward head - anybody else out there in favor of Electra-san?

We have a friend who recently installed one of those composting toilets. He says they had five on board for a week and it worked great. Any experience with those?

Air Head Dry Toilet: Marine Composting Toilets - Environmentally Friendly Marine Composting Toilet System

[pbanderson]

I just moved my boat to Puget Sound..... I have direct discharge valve on boat on black water system.... does anyone know if this is a problem that I can be fined for?