Cape & Islands News

Dumped sewerage 70 times more toxic than allowed for swimming, fishing

What 3 million flushes can do to your next Nantucket Sound swim 

By Sam Pearsall,  capecodtoday Falmouth Bureau

With almost 3 million people being ferried to and from the islands every year on the Steamship Authority vessels and the Hy-Line Cruises alone, did you ever stop and think where all that human excrement ends up?

Right there nestled in Nantucket Sound for your swimming, fishing and boating pleasure.

By federal law, if a vessel is more than three (3) nautical miles offshore, dumping sewage is legal, however, anywhere within those three miles requires sewage to be treated with proper marine sanitation devices, which all of the SSA vessels are now said to be equipped with.

Todd Callaghan of the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management explained that in federal waters, 3 miles or more offshore, vessels are not required to treat the sewage that is being disposed of in the Sound at all, however, the Steamship Authority has made the effort in doing so in both federal and state waters.

Sewage can be up to 70 times the allowed limit for swimming and fishing

According to the Office of CZM, even the treated sewage can be up to 70 times the allowed limit of pollution for swimming and fishing. The chlorination system that is primarily used to treat the sewage does not eliminate nitrogen and other nutrients that are byproducts of sewage.

Commercial vessels dumping untreated sewage into the federal waters in the Sound are in compliance with the federal law, however, soon there will be more environmentally friendly options for commercial boats. There are already onshore pump-outs scattered across the Cape for recreational use, including one in Barnstable and Provincetown. Callaghan said that commercial-size pump-outs are needed for larger vessels, such as the SSA ferries.

Hy-line currently discharges at the dock in Hyannis and Nantucket.

"If the funding presents itself, services will provide commercial boats commercial-size onshore pump-outs," he said. Currently, a state funded grant is being requested by the Coastal Pollutant Remediation Program that would allow for onshore pump-outs to be available to larger commercial vessels and alleviate much of the sewage dumping in the Sound.

See the previous article, stories and letters below;

• The Sound as Sewer
• SSA General Manager refutes Moses Calouso Op Ed
• Pollution + Dilution = Solution
• Part 1 - Hy-Line wants to set new standard for ferry operations
• Part 1 - How 3 million flushes may spoil your next swim.
• Part 2 -  850 billion gallons of sewage, 5,500 illnesses