Marina Owners Facing A Tide Of Environmental Regulations 

For some, costs of compliance can create a financial hardship  


By Lee Howard     Published on 7/4/2007 


Marina operators in the region are struggling to meet ever more stringent
environmental regulations that most admit are admirable but some say target them
unfairly.



The disposal of hazardous waste, fuel-spill prevention and clean-up, storm water
runoff and air pollution prevention are just some of the areas being scrutinized
by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of
Environmental Protection.



For most marinas, the cost of dealing with these issues will total at least
$20,000; for some, the costs will be $100,000 or more.



“All of these costs are burdensome and difficult for marinas to deal with,” says
Ted Sailer, chairman of the board of the Marine Trades Association, a statewide
group representing 600 businesses and 10,000 employees in the recreational-boater industry.



Grant Westerson, executive director of the association, agrees. “It's a very
expensive process for an industry that doesn't make a lot of money,” he says.



The industry received a wake-up call less than two years ago when regulators
took action against several marinas in Rhode Island, imposing fines of up to
$140,000 for environmental problems. The fines were reduced after an appeal, but
one marina still faced about $50,000 in fines, Westerson says.



“A lot of these things have been on the books for a long time,” says Westerson.
“But it was something that wasn't enforced before, and now it is.”



Westerson says Connecticut has about 125 commercial marinas. Of these, he
estimates that about half still have a long way to go before they reach full
compliance with environmental regulations.



“The average marina doesn't have an extra body to task with these
responsibilities,” Westerson explains. “The smaller operations are run ragged as it is.”



•••••



The federal government has drawn up environmental regulations for the industry,
but each state is allowed to add its own rules as well. One of the most
difficult and expensive to put into place is a requirement that marinas set up
areas for pressure-washing so that the flecks of copper and other contaminants
that come off in the course of cleaning the bottom of a boat can be contained
and treated.



Sailer, who runs an environmental consultancy firm in addition to his work as
chairman of the marine trades group, says pressure-washing systems can cost
marina owners anywhere from $18,000 to $25,000 for a simple solution, all the
way up to $100,000 for a particularly complex system.



It costs from $8,000 to $10,000 just to do an analysis of each marina's
environmental-compliance needs, Sailer says, and the reports he produces can
total hundreds and even thousands of pages, depending on the complexity of the
problems.



Despite such costs, some marina operators are eager to comply with the regulations and can even find financial benefits.



At Mystic Shipyard, for instance, many customers had been using old-fashioned
palm sanders for years to scrape barnacles off the bottoms of their boats. Now
they must use dustless vacuum sanders to reduce toxins released to the air.



“And that's actually good for our bottom line, because we rent out vacuum
sanders,” says Jeff Marshall, managing partner of the shipyard. “Or we'll do the
sanding for them, because more people now ask, 'Can you sand the bottom for us?'
”



Mystic Shipyard, whose 155-slip east yard just last month became the first
commercial facility in the state to be designated a “Connecticut Clean Marina,”
adds on a $5 flat fee to help pay for the new environmental programs.



“A lot of marina owners are scared that they will ruffle the feathers of their
customer base,” Marshall says. “We're always telling them about new rules and
regulations and how they can help comply. The work is funded by customers and
embraced by customers.”



Dann Lockwood, general manager of Dodson's Boatyard in Stonington, says he takes
a proactive approach to the regulations, always trying to anticipate the best
practices available to his industry. Another of the 10 Clean Marinas designated
so far in the state, Dodson's recently replaced all its fuel lines and pumps as
well as bulkheads to try to reduce the risks of gasoline leaks and spills.



“Achieving clean-marina status is not an end, it's a beginning,” Lockwood says.
“It's an ongoing program. You have to be recertified. ... It's not just
maintaining standards, either, because new ones always come along.”



For instance, pressure-washing rules at first called for installing a filtering
mat on top of some gravel, but now Dodson's has had to go to the extra expense
of building a collection pond with a filter so the business can treat the water
before recycling it and using it again.



Another extra expense has been a requirement for a temporary waste-storage area,
where used oil and antifreeze, oily rags, used gas containers, dried-up paint brushes and paint
cans, used batteries and other hazardous materials are stored. A horn had to be
installed to warn of a spill.



Despite the expense, Lockwood says Dodson's hasn't felt a big financial pinch
from all the requirements.



“The nature of our business is that the majority of our customers depend on us
to do most of these (maintenance) things,” he says. “Most yards don't have this
volume of work.”



Still, Lockwood believes some of the regulations go too far. For instance, a
requirement to monitor storm-water runoff doesn't take into account that much of
the runoff may come from elsewhere.



“Some comes from two blocks away,” he says, “but we're responsible for remedying
it.”



The MTA's Sailer says marina owners are unfairly targeted when harbors are being
dredged. Marina owners pay for the dredging, which often costs hundreds of
thousands of dollars, but they have to pay higher fees when the dredged material
has excessive concentrations of cadmium, a material released as the bottom of boats are
being scraped or sanded.



Sailer says he believes the state set acceptable concentration levels at too low
a level and that much of the cadmium could be traced to industrial sources — yet
marina owners are the ones who must pay the price.



•••••



The increasing regulatory burden also weighs on smaller-sized marinas, such as
the 50-slip Westerly Marina, whose owners may not be as aware of the changes as
the larger marinas.



“I've heard bits and pieces,” says Jay Trebisacci, who has owned the marina for
more than 20 years. He knows enough, however, to realize that a new filtration
system for power washing will likely cost him $20,000 to $30,000.



“It's definitely going to be a financial strain on the smaller yards,” he says.



Adding to the strain for these smaller yards that rely on recreational boaters
is the spiraling price of gas, which Trebisacci says has reduced the number of
people using his marina.



“Five to six years ago, the parking lot was full,” says Trebisacci, who
estimates his lot holds 80 to 100 cars. “Now, maybe there's a dozen, 15 cars in
the parking lot some days.”



With the added financial stresses, small-marina owners in other states, such as
Michigan and Florida, have been selling out to condominium owners at a fast
pace.



But this won't happen in Connecticut, where rules require that Coastal Area
Management zone areas like those associated with marinas be reserved for
waterfront-dependent uses.



Still, Westerson notes that some parts of marina properties in back of the
waterfront could be converted to condominiums, which has happened in Niantic.



Tobey Russ, who owns the 150-slip Three Belles Marina in Niantic (the former
Bayreuther Boat Yard) with his wife, Libby, says places where boaters can dock
are essentially the protectors of the public's access to the water, so the
financial vitality of marinas is critical to the economy of the state.



Russ agrees that a lot of good could come out of environmental regulations, since the cove where his
six-acre marina lies is his most precious asset.



“Anything we can do to preserve it is great,” he says of Smith Cove. “We just
don't want to go out of business in the process.”

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