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Solid Waste |
The following best management practices regarding solid waste and storm water runoff are available for review:
Containment ... Collection Facilities/Recycling ... Source Control/Reduction ...
Education ... Signs ... Contracts
Objectives:
- Implement effective runoff control strategies that include the use of pollution prevention activities and the proper design of hull maintenance areas .
- Reduce the average annual loading of total suspended solids in runoff from hull maintenance areas by 80 percent. For more information, check out BMPs Lessons Learned.
- Properly dispose of solid wastes produced by the operation, cleaning, maintenance, and repair of boats to limit the entry of solid waste into surface waters.
- Promote sound fish-waste management practices. See Fact Sheets available on-line.
- For boats that are in the water, perform cleaning operations to minimize, to the extent practicable, the release to surface waters paint from in-water hull cleaning. See Fact Sheets available on-line.
- Institute a public education/outreach/training program for boaters to prevent improper disposal of polluting material.
Purpose:
Provide the boating facility several options for the collection, containment, and reduction of solid waste that is generated within marine recreational facilities and reduce exposure of waste to storm water. Solid waste in this section includes: trash and recyclables (paper, bottles, cans, plastics); hull-cleaning debris (paint); fish waste; and waste generated from general boat maintenance (fiberglass, wood, grit).
Discussion:
Recreational boating facilities, during daily operations, generate some solid waste. Solid waste encompasses many pollutant types, such as plastics and heavy metals generated from many different activities such as fishing and boat bottom washing. If this waste is collected and disposed of properly, its impact on the environment is minimized. Therefore, this chapter focuses on capturing contaminants before they enter the surface waters.
In developing a plan to address this issue, identify what activities within the facility generate solid waste that could potentially degrade the marine environment. Obvious activities include vessel maintenance and repair. Seasonal maintenance generates solid waste, such as paint chips and dust, from sanding hulls. Toxic forms of heavy metals, such as copper, are inherent to bottom paint (METRO, 1992). Some facilities provide sandblasting services that create particles of both paint and metal from the hull. Pressure washing creates wastewater laden with suspended solids containing metals (METRO, 1992). Daily operational activities of the facility generate such items as paper, bottles, cans , and plastics. Tenants also generate waste similar to what the facility generates during its daily operation, such as paper, bottles, and plastic. Tenants also may generate other waste types, such as fish discards and fishing line. Once the waste types and sources are inventoried, practical best management practices can be selected that collect and properly dispose of them.
This chapter provides suggested best management practices that are designed to collect, contain, and reduce the amount of solid wastes that exist at recreational boating facilities. This component of nonpoint sources is expansive and includes a broad range of activities and pollutants. The level of attention you will need to provide to this topic is highly dependent on the type of facility. The more diverse the activities, the more intensive the management practices may need to be. For facilities that only provide an in-water berthing area, perhaps only signs, education, and trash and recycling receptacles will be necessary. If the facility provides hull maintenance areas, then additional management practices will be needed. Marina operators have the flexibility to select the best management practices that are most appropriate for your activities.
