No Discharge Area
In July 2008, thanks to the efforts of APCC, the Mass Bays Program and the Cape Cod Bay No Discharge Area Working Group, EPA formally designated Cape Cod Bay as the largest federally designated No Discharge Area (NDA) for boat sewage in Massachusetts. Within a NDA, discharge of all boat sewage, whether treated or untreated, is prohibited. Boats must hold their sewage until they are serviced at a boat pumpout facility, where the sewage is then sent to a municipal wastewater facility for treatment.
To qualify for NDA designation, there must be enough facilities to service the sewage pumpout needs of the boaters within the NDA. In Cape Cod waters, the Cape Cod Bay NDA has an estimated 3,250 boats, of which, 2,010 are estimated to be large enough to contain a toilet. There are seven existing pumpout facilities, and two pending facilities to be built, for a total of nine facilities. The two additional pumpouts, in Dennis and Provincetown, will serve both commercial and recreational vessels.
The Working Group, chaired by CZM Cape & Islands Regional Coordinator Steve McKenna, worked on the designation for a year and a half. APCC Senior Scientist and Mass Bays Program Regional Coordinator Dr. Jo Ann Muramoto prepared the application on behalf of the group, and helped Dennis and Provincetown apply for grants for pumpout facilities that needed to be built for the designation to occur.