A united effort, Clean Marina Program celebrates milestone
This week, the Clean Marina Washington program, established in 2005 to recognize environmentally-friendly marinas in Washington, announces Deer Harbor Marina on Orcas Island as its 30th marina certification. Clean Marina staff will be available to answer questions about the program this Saturday, August 7 from 10am-2pm at the Port of Edmonds Marina National Marina Day celebration.
The Port of Edmonds earned the Clean Marina certification and the Clean Marina Leadership Award in January 2007. The marina is located at 336 Admiral Way in Edmonds, WA.
A Clean Marina designation indicates that a marina is in compliance with environmental regulations, has voluntarily adopted additional environmental practices and has passed a comprehensive certification inspection. Marinas are motivated for the award in order to become better stewards of the waters, and by the prestige of being recognized as an environmentally-responsible business.
In addition to its statewide efforts, Clean Marina Washington partners with the EnviroStars Cooperative in five western Washington counties to award dual certifications to qualifying businesses. The program also coordinates with Clean Marina programs in twenty-one other states.
The Washington program represents a unique cooperative effort between environmental advocates, business interests, and State government. Partners in the program include the Northwest Marine Trade Association (NMTA), Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, the EnviroStars Cooperative and representatives from several state agencies including Department of Ecology, Department of Natural Resources, Sea Grant and State Parks and Recreation. The program is funded by a grant from Department of Ecology.
“I am very proud of the connection that has been established between regulatory agencies, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, and the NMTA. We have had a good start and there is plenty of work ahead of us,” says Michael Campbell, NMTA President
Chris Wilke, of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance who is the Clean Marina program coordinator, is also excited about the program success, “It is great to see this gaining momentum. We look forward to expanding this program to marinas in all areas of the state.” The program works closely with marina managers, marine suppliers and boaters on creative ways to prevent water pollution.
In order to prevent pollution, boaters are asked to follow environmental best management practices (or BMPs). Examples of BMPs include using tarps to contain work areas during boat maintenance, carefully fueling vessels and catching drips to avoid spills at the fuel dock, and always using holding tank pumpouts or dump stations for boat sewage.
For more information, go to www.cleanmarinawashington.org or www.envirostars.org.
