No Discharge Areas

Recreational Boaters: Help Keep Sewage Out of Casco Bay!

Did you know?
- The untreated sewage from two boaters in one weekend pollutes the water as much as the treated sewage of a city of 10,000 people.
- Casco Bay was designated a No Discharge Area by the EPA in 2006 — this prohibits the discharge of all vessel sewage, treated or untreated.
- Casco Bay is now the most protected water body in the nation from vessel discharges.

What does the No Discharge rule mean for recreational boaters?.
- The No Discharge Area doesn’t change the rules for recreational boaters — it’s still illegal to dump raw sewage anywhere in Casco Bay (from Two Lights to Small Point). The good news is that there are ample pumpout facilities where you can safely, easily, and legally empty your boat’s holding tank (see www.cascobay.org for a complete list).
- A state law banning gray water discharges applies only to large passenger vessels. Sink and shower water from recreational boats can still be discharged anywhere

Do your part to keep sewage out of the Bay
- Use bathroom facilities on shore before leaving the dock.
- Learn to operate onshore pumpout facilities yourself. Ask the marina dockhand or Friends of Casco Bay’s pumpout captain, Helen Mattsson, to show you how. Helen says, “Anyone driving, navigating, or docking a boat is more than qualified to perform their own pumpouts.”
- For a list of pumpout facilities in Casco Bay, go to www.cascobay.org and click on Programs/Pumpout Program.
- For more info, contact Friends of Casco Bay (207) 799-8574.

Friends of Casco Bay - doing its part through its Mobile Pumpout Program
When Friends of Casco Bay began its pumpout program in 1995, there was only one shoreside pumpout facility on the Bay. Thanks to the group’s efforts in coordination with Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection, there are 21 today. Friends of Casco Bay’s pumpout boat has emptied 6,000 holding tanks, preventing more than 106,000 gallons of sewage from entering Casco Bay.

Campaign against cruise ship pollution
One “accidental discharge” by a cruise ship can exceed all the recreational boat sewage pumped out by the group’s Pumpout Boat all summer, so Friends of Casco Bay pushed for limits on cruise ship discharges, helping to win the No Discharge Area designation for Casco Bay, as well as a state law banning gray water discharges for large passenger vessels for all of Maine’s coastal waters.

learn more at:
http://www.cascobay.org
http://www.epa.gov/NE/eco/nodiscrg/require.html