Anne Arundel and Annapolis officials joined together Friday to sign an application that could bar all boats from discharging any type of sewage into county and city waters.
County Executive Steuart Pittman and Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley signed the application in Annapolis on Friday. The application will be sent before the Environmental Protection Agency, which has authority over establishing no-discharge zones. These are zones that prohibit the dumping of sewage from boats. Current rules allow the dumping of treated sewage or using pump-out equipment throughout the county. Dumping untreated sewage is already prohibited.
If approved, no-discharge zones would be created at the “Annapolis Harbor and all waterways that feed the Chesapeake Bay that begin in Anne Arundel County (including the Severn River, Magothy River, South River, and West/Rhode Rivers),” according to an Annapolis news release.
The signing took place at City Dock alongside other state and local officials.
“To me, this plan is common sense,” Pittman said on Twitter. “Both the County Council and the City Council passed resolutions last year stating their support of the creation of these no-discharge zones. If we want to protect the Chesapeake Bay, we need more efforts to reduce the pollution in our waters.”
Supporters of the plan say it could reduce pollutants and excess nutrients in waterways that can damage ecosystems. But opponents say it would do little to repair bay waters and force boaters to find pump-out stations rather than use expensive treatment tools.
Herring Bay was established as a no-discharge zone in 2002.
