EPA Announces Public Comment Period on Proposal to Ban Dumping Sewage from Boats Into Jamaica Bay (NY)
(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency has tentatively determined that there are
adequate facilities near Jamaica Bay for boats to pump out their
sewage, allowing the establishment of a “no discharge
zone” for an approximately 20,000-acre area, as proposed by
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. A
no-discharge zone means that boats are completely banned from
discharging sewage into the water. Boaters must instead dispose of
their sewage at specially-designated pump-out stations. This action
is part of a joint EPA/New York State strategy to eliminate the
discharge of sewage from boats into the state’s waterways.
Discharges of sewage from boats can contain harmful levels of
pathogens and chemicals such as formaldehyde, phenols and chlorine,
which have a negative impact on water quality, pose a risk to
people’s health and impair marine life. EPA is encouraging
public comment on its proposed approval until September 2,
2011.
EPA’s tentative determination is available
in the Federal Register at:
http://frwebgate1.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=TMNrhx/1/1/0&WAIS.
New York State has proposed to ban the discharge
of boat sewage in an area of Jamaica Bay that encompasses 17,177
acres of open water and 2,695 acres of upland islands and salt
marshes in Brooklyn and Queens. The northeastern and southeastern
parts of Jamaica Bay reach Nassau County, while the northern shore
of the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens forms the southern boundary of
the bay. The bay is connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the
Rockaway Inlet, and eight tributaries empty into Jamaica Bay:
Sheepshead Bay, Paerdegat Basin, Fresh Creek, Hendrix Creek, Spring
Creek, Shellbank Basin, Bergen Basin and Thurston Basin. Upon a
final affirmative determination from EPA, New York State may
proceed to ban the discharge of boat sewage into Jamaica Bay and
its tributaries.
For more information about no discharge zones,
visit http://www.epa.gov/region02/water/ndz/index.html.
To comment on the proposed EPA approval, email,
fax or mail comments to Moses Chang at
[email protected],
Fax: (212) 637-3891. Mailing address: Moses Chang, U.S. EPA Region
2, 290 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866.
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