850 billion gallons of sewage = 3,500 to 5,500 illnesses

Sewage Dumping -Part II
"Legal" doesn't make it right

By Sam Pearsall, Falmouth Bureau

Saying something is legal is not that same as saying it is okay to do. The Steamship Authority and Hy-Line Cruises have been legally using Nantucket Sound as a dumping grounds for their sewage for decades now. While these two companies, and other ferryboat operations across the Cape, are not breaking any federal laws, this sewage disposal only 3 miles offshore is harmful to the environment and people.

According to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, in 2004 over 50 billion gallons of sewage was pooled into waterways from dumping, run-off and by other means.

My Aunt in Oahu
Cape Cod is not alone: apparently the destruction of beauty is going on from coast to coast. Even the gorgeous Hawaiian Islands over there in the Pacific are dealing with the sa disgusting problems of sewage disposal in their so-called pristine waters. The photo above is my great aunt in Oahu.
She is marine ecologist Dr. Wendy Wiltse of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Honolulu office.
There is a state resolution asking the EPA to establish a no discharge zone for vessels in state waters of South Maui. Read about Dr. Wiltse in the EPA sie here.

In this same year the Environmental Protection Agency estimated 3,500 to 5,500 illnesses caused by polluted waters.

Susan Nickerson, Executive Director of Nantucket Soundkeeper, said “Two parts of the equation that really need to be looked at are bacterial contamination and nitrogen contamination.” The chlorination systems do not eliminate nitrogen which can build up and cause algal blooms in the ocean.

There are several pump-outs onshore available for recreational use in No Discharge Areas surrounding the Sound, including ones in Barnstable, Chatham, Harwich, Nantucket, and Waquoit Bay.

The boat sewage No Discharge Area Coordinator of Massachusetts, Todd Callaghan, explained that the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management is “just in the beginning stages of identifying the structural and financial needs for sighting commercial pump-outs in Provincetown, Barnstable Harbor, Boston, and Gloucester.”

He also mentioned that Hyannis is certainly an area that will also be given much consideration for a facility.

But even when the sewage from these commercial vessels is treated then dumped into the federal waters, not all of the harmful components are eliminated. The marine sanitation devices used by the SSA vessels do not remove nitrogen and other nutrients from the sewage.

Meanwhile, at The Soundkeepers

Nickerson explained that it is difficult to pinpoint the actual source of the pollutants, whether it is run-off from homes, overflowing septic tanks during heavy rains, or sewage disposal from boaters—both commercial and recreational.

“We are working with the SSA and Hy-Line to understand obstacles they face in eliminating their discharges and using land-based pump-outs,” Nickerson said, “and we are doing whatever we can to help them get there.”

The Nantucket Soundkeepers has a boat and two full time staff and one summer intern. Their website lists all the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound personel "staff" members of the Soundkeeprs as well. The Alliance's main function has been to stop the creation of the Cape Wind farm, and it has raised over $18 million for its mission.

Similar Soundkeeper and Baykeepers organizations in Buzzards Bay and Rhode Island have dozens of staffers here and here.

• Read Part 1 - How 3 million flushes may spoil your next swim.

Samantha Pearsall is a sophomore and a Contemporary Journalism major at Endicott College on the North Shore. A native Cape Codder from Falmouth, she writes about Cape issues affecting college-aged Cape Codders. Check out her "20 Something" CapeBlog  here.