Boatyards have cleaned up act, study finds

Feb 17 2010 in Environment by Deborah Bach

Puget Sound boatyards have cut the amount of harmful copper pollution flowing into the region’s waterways by more than 50 percent during the past few years, according to a new study.

Conducted for the Northwest Marine Trade Association by engineering consulting firm Arcadis U.S., Inc. the study found that boatyards represented by the NMTA have reduced their average dissolved copper output by 52 percent since January 2006.

The findings of the study suggest that steps taken by boatyards to prevent the release of copper, zinc and other metals that threaten marine life have made a difference, from tarping off work areas and vacuum sanding old bottom paint to the installation of water treatment systems.

The study comes in the wake of an environmental watchdog group’s threat to sue five Seattle area boatyards for pollution. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance (PSA) is targeting the yards for alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act, contending that they have not done enough to prevent copper and other pollutants harmful to marine life from flowing into Puget Sound.

The threat comes at a particularly difficult time for boatyards, as many struggle to survive one of the worst economic downtowns in memory. The NMTA and others say the possibility of lawsuits and the costs of meeting environmental regulations could prompt some boatyards to shut down entirely.

Last September, PSA sent warning letters to boatyards around the state, advising that if they failed to reduce their copper output or file discharge reports with the state Department of Ecology as required, the organization may sue. PSA made good on the threat in December, sending letters of intent to sue to the five boatyards.

The five boatyards that received letters include CSR Marine’s two boatyards on Lake Union and the Ballard ship canal, Dunato’s Marine Service and Yachfish Marine in Seattle and Yarrow Bay Marina in Kirkland.

PSA plans to file lawsuits against the boatyards following a 60-day period after the letters were sent, and is in talks with the boatyard owners about reaching out-of-court settlements. The settlements are expected to involve payments from the boatyards, rumored to be in the $50,000 range, to help fund environmental projects undertaken by third-party organizations.

The Clean Water Act allows the PSA to bring citizen lawsuits, levy penalties of up to $37,500 a day and negotiate out-of-court settlements. Some have referred to the settlements as “legal extortion.” But PSA Executive Director Bob Beckman said the organization’s priority is on reducing pollution in stormwater and cleaning up Puget Sound.

“When we see (water standards) not being forced by Ecology, we take an activist position and say, ‘If they won’t, we will,’” he said recently. “I don’t think it’s legal extortion at all. I think it’s enforcement.”

In the recent study, Arcadis analyzed the same boatyard data PSA used to identify the five yards. The study concluded that boatyards in general contribute just 0.3 percent of copper entering Puget Sound through stormwater runoff, while automobile brake pads account for an estimated 40 percent.

Since 2007, close to a dozen Washington boatyards have installed water treatment systems to reduce their pollution levels. Others say they can’t afford to install a treatment system, which can cost upward of $100,000, and are awaiting new state water regulations expected to take effect next year.

George Harris, president of the Northwest Marine Trade Association, said the improvement in boatyards’ pollution levels shows the industry is headed in the right direction. He points out that CSR Marine, among the boatyards being targeted by PSA, voluntarily participated in a pilot project undertaken by NMTA and PSA in 2007 to test three different water treatment systems.

“I really think boatyards, NMTA boatyards in particular, have become significantly cleaner in the last four years,” Harris said. “And I give Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and the NMTA a lot of combined credit for working on this together.”

PSA has said it identified the boatyards by reviewing pollution discharge reports and zeroing in on the five worst offenders. But Harris said the Arcadis study shows that the yards being targeted are not the highest emitters of copper, considered particularly harmful to salmon.

“If these five yards that received the intent to sue letters were truly the biggest offenders, then we as an association probably don’t want to advocate for them, because in some respect, maybe they got what they deserved,” Harris said.

“But when I look at the data, I don’t see that these are the worst offenders. To me, it looks like (PSA) is being selective.”

Harris said he plans to discuss the criteria during a meeting Friday between the NMTA and PSA. The private meeting will include a mediator from the William D. Ruckelshaus Center at Washington State University, which provides assistance with dispute resolution.

The five boatyards that received letters are all located on freshwater and have much stricter benchmark limits for copper than boatyards situated on saltwater.

Asked to clarify the criteria used in targeting the five boatyards, Beckman declined to be specific. In an email, Beckman said he can’t discuss the criteria in detail, “but exceedances in one metal (copper) is but one criteria among many data points that guides our case selection process.”

Harris said both sides have agreed not to discuss the legal action against the five boatyards at Friday’s meeting. His objective for the meeting, he said, is to reach an agreement with PSA about an acceptable pace of improvement for boatyards to reduce pollution levels and a way to move forward without further threats of lawsuits.

“My hope is that we can get an acknowledgment from Soundkeepers that recreational boating, and boatyards in particular, are part of the solution and not part of the problem,” Harris said.

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