Editorial: Dirty water

It should be a no-brainer but apparently not everyone has gotten the message that Massachusetts coastal waters, particularly Boston Harbor, are not their personal septic systems.

The cities of Boston and Quincy along with state Coastal Zone Management officials have applied to the federal Environmental Protection Agency to designate Boston Harbor a No-Discharge Zone. The move would add that area to others along the South Shore and the Cape which prohibit wastewater discharge.

It is against state law to dump raw sewage in water quality in Massachusetts' coastal waters. But boaters can release treated waste, even though those treatment chemicals can often be as harmful to marine life as raw sewage.

Vessel sewage can be more than 10 times more concentrated than domestic sewage. Even limited amounts of microorganisms can cause diseases such as hepatitis. Shellfish, a huge industry in our region, eat tiny food particles filtered through their gills and into their stomachs and can convey nearly all waterborne pathogens to humans.

A study several years ago by the Urban Harbors Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Boston found that accessibility, service and knowledge of pumpout stations are the biggest contributors to those people who discharge effluent into the harbor.

The institute also found that while most area boaters were aware of pumpout stations in the region, 25 percent of transient boaters were not.
From Quincy to the Cape Cod Canal, there are 27 pumpout facilities, either shoreside, boats or both. Of that, 18 are free, with the service paid by grants from fees collected by the clean vessel act.

Recreational boaters should know these things, and should treat Boston Harbor like their neighbors' pool. Boaters who treat the tidal waters like a flushing toilet need to change their behaviors and respect their fellow boaters and all marine life.