Dumping waste

G

gnealon

New Member
Apr 8, 2009
570
West Babylon, NY
Boat Info
2005 280 DA, Garmin 4208
"Ship Faced"
Engines
Twin 5.0L Merc BIII
So I was told that you can't pump out your holding tank if you are w/in 3 NM from shore. I also see in my engine compartment that the seacock from the macerator (guess) is zip tied shut. So I assume if the coast guard pulls you over and see's the zip tie broken, you would get a ticket.

I could be totally confused here... So if I go 3 NM out... cut the tie... pump out... do I have to put another tie back on before i come w/in 3 NM's again?

Can someone clear this up for me?

Thanks a lot.
 
Why not just pump-out at a local marina and do the environment some good...
 
I agree. Is it that hard to go to the Marina and pump out your own $hit?????
 
I not a big believer that the processes used to treat waste are that much better for the environment than just dumping it in the ocean.
 
chris41483 said:
I not a big believer that the processes used to treat waste are that much better for the environment than just dumping it in the ocean.
Click to expand...

Take a tour of a sewage treatment facility, you will be amazed how clean the water is...
 
gnealon said:
So I was told that you can't pump out your holding tank if you are w/in 3 NM from shore. I also see in my engine compartment that the seacock from the macerator (guess) is zip tied shut. So I assume if the coast guard pulls you over and see's the zip tie broken, you would get a ticket.

I could be totally confused here... So if I go 3 NM out... cut the tie... pump out... do I have to put another tie back on before i come w/in 3 NM's again?

Can someone clear this up for me?

Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...


What a great question. :grin: The area where you keep your boat has easy access to the open Atlantic and because of this you may go outside the 3 mile line and dump your waste. But, you are correct that to fully protect yourself you should replace the zip tie before heading back to shore. Without the zip tie in place, you might be able to talk your way out of a fine, but it won't be easy.

Just to be thorough, you can't just be 3 miles from shore any old place, you must actually be outside of the boundary as shown on the chart. You may note, for example, that Long Island Sound is a federal no discharge zone as is the entire state of Rhode Island. Where I am located, I would have to travel over 40nm to get to the 3 mile line (even though I would be 6 miles from shore most of the way.

Like others have suggested, it's usually easier and maybe cleaner to use the free pumpout facilities ashore.
 
The answer to your question is "yes". You have to zip tie it back up. I have been boarded several times and as long as the sea cock is closed and the power to the macerator is off, they have said it was OK... however... technically you need to tie it back up.

Give me a break on the environment and the 3 mile argument... I hate it when people make me feel guilty for being a human being... You are not hurting the environment at all by dumping 3+ miles offshore... prove otherwise... do an analysis of the dilution... I could probably show it hurts the environment more to do a pump out.
 
Sea Gull said:
What a great question. :grin: The area where you keep your boat has easy access to the open Atlantic and because of this you may go outside the 3 mile line and dump your waste. But, you are correct that to fully protect yourself you should replace the zip tie before heading back to shore. Without the zip tie in place, you might be able to talk your way out of a fine, but it won't be easy.

Just to be thorough, you can't just be 3 miles from shore any old place, you must actually be outside of the boundary as shown on the chart. You may note, for example, that Long Island Sound is a federal no discharge zone as is the entire state of Rhode Island. Where I am located, I would have to travel over 40nm to get to the 3 mile line (even though I would be 6 miles from shore most of the way.

Like others have suggested, it's usually easier and maybe cleaner to use the free pumpout facilities ashore.
Click to expand...

Thanks Sea Gull... that explains a lot. Had no idea it wasn't just 3NM everywhere. There are free pump outs all over the place, so its a lot easier to use that... never understood the whole dumping idea.

Thanks again.
 
I'm sure the final product is plenty clean. Not my argument. What I was saying is that there are more chemicals, and a lot of power used to treat the waste, and then there are solids left over that have to be disposed of. I think that this type of non-nuclear, biodegradeable waste in the ocean probably has less of an effect on the environment that the act of running these plants. I am not a scientist, and would of course have to read a report written by Al Gore to be sure.
 
chris41483 said:
I'm sure the final product is plenty clean. Not my argument. What I was saying is that there are more chemicals, and a lot of power used to treat the waste, and then there are solids left over that have to be disposed of. I think that this type of non-nuclear, biodegradeable waste in the ocean probably has less of an effect on the environment that the act of running these plants.
Click to expand...

exactly!
 
Another stupid aspect of this is that everytime it rains the sewage treatment plants get overloaded so they dump raw sewage. They dump more in one minute during heavy rain than all of us together could generate in a lifetime of boating.
 
our city marina is right below the sewage plant. when it rains heavily, there is sh!t all over the ramp, quite literally.
 
chris41483 said:
our city marina is right below the sewage plant. when it rains heavily, there is sh!t all over the ramp, quite literally.
Click to expand...
Holy crap ;-)

I think they need to amend that law for pee only dumping. You think all those kids at
The beach are holding it?
 
I think if the liberals really cared about the environment they would just shut up. Due to all of the liberal propoganda about tring to cure global warming, or as they call it now "climate change" I may puke several times over the side right now. would that be damaging to the ozone layer?
 
If I were to dump it would probably help bring the PH levels back closer to where they should be.
 
gnealon said:
Holy crap ;-)

I think they need to amend that law for pee only dumping. You think all those kids at
The beach are holding it?
Click to expand...

I agree, I can't tell you how many times a day I see a women popping a squat off the back of a platform in our lake, or a man swinging his sword.
 
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