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Southwinds Monitors Boater's Rights:

Is the Gulf of Mexico Florida's Toilet?

A report by the Clean Water Network of Florida on Sewage Dumping in the Gulf of Mexico -
Click here to read the report

 

More Articles, links and information to be posted in the near future

 

Articles and information to be posted in the near future

 

Where Can You Dump Type I Marine Sanitation Devices (Like Lectra-San)?

Only six states (Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin) have all, or nearly all, of their waters designated as No-Discharge Zones (NDZs). This means that not even treated sewage (like from a Lectra/San, a Type I MSD) can be dumped into those waters, but NDZs exist in only certain portions of other states.

Outside of NDZs, Type I MSDs can dump their treated waste into the waters legally and safely.

NDZs in the Southern states are:

• Alabama: None.
• Florida: State waters within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Destin Harbor, City of Key West waters.
• Georgia: Hartwell Lake.
• Louisiana: None
• Mississippi: None.
• North Carolina: Broad Creek
• South Carolina: Hartwell Lake, Lake Keowee, Lake Murray, Lake Thurmond, and Lake Wylie.
• Texas: 24 Freshwater bodies (no saltwater areas).

(Other restrictions exist for certain freshwater bodies with low water access. See the laws on the below Web site to review those.)

For a complete list of NDZs and information about them and marine sanitation devices, go to www.epa.gov.

Untreated sewage cannot be dumped in any waters unless the vessel is three miles from shore along coastal waters, and off the coast of Florida in the Gulf, a vessel cannot dump unless it is nine miles offshore.

For more information on Type I MSDs and how they work, go to Our Waterways section on the Southwinds Web site, www.southwindsmagazine.com.

Is the Gulf of Mexico Florida's Toilet?

A report by the Clean Water Network of Florida on Sewage Dumping in the Gulf of Mexico -
Click here to read the report

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