Boating industry executives joined with members of the environmental community recently to celebrate businesses that have met the rigorous pollution prevention standards established by Maryland’S Clean Marina Committee and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), as part of the agency’s Clean Marina Initiative (CMI).

CMI promotes and celebrates voluntary adoption of measures to reduce pollution from marinas and recreational boats. Recognized as Maryland’s first ‘Clean Marinas’ were:

• Anchor Bay East Marina, Dundalk (Balto. Co.)
• Baltimore Yacht Club, Fallston (Harford. Co.)
• Haven Harbour Marina, Rock Hall (Kent Co.)
• Herrington Harbour-South, Friendship (Anne Arundel Co.)
• Port Annapolis, Marina, Annapolis (Anne Arundel Co.)
• Spring Cove Marina, Solomons (Calvert Co.)

"We’re all beginning to understand, we cannot expect to govern or regulate our way to a healthier environment or a cleaner Chesapeake Bay," DNR Deputy Secretary Stan K. Arthur said in ceremonies this afternoon at Anchor Bay East Marina. "Any real progress we make will depend on every one of us changing the way we live. By demonstrating that economic interests and environmental responsibility can go hand-in-hand, and by exhibiting true leadership in being the first marinas to adopt these pollution prevention measures, these establishments are serving as an example, not only for other marinas, but for all businesses who want to have a positive impact on our environment."

Each of the six ‘Clean Marinas’ has implemented measures to control pollution associated with vessel maintenance and repair; petroleum storage and transfer; sewage disposal; solid, liquid and hazardous wastes; stormwater runoff; and facilities management as part of their being named a certified Maryland ‘Clean Marina’.

"I am so proud of all of them for taking this opportunity to demonstrate their environmental stewardship," CMI Coordinator Beth Fuller Valentine said of the award recipients. "The department’s Waterway Resources Division is pleased to be in a position to recognize these facilities for their commitment to clean air and water."

To achieve full standing as a certified Clean Marina, marina operators must adopt a number of the recommendations in the Maryland Clean Marina Guidebook. The guidebook provides a comprehensive review of pollution prevention measures. Recognized Clean Marinas will be able to use the Clean Marina logo in their advertising and on their letterhead. They will also receive a flag to fly from their facility, a page on the Clean Marina web site (www.dnr.state.md.us/boating), and promotion in Clean Marina publications.

Designation of the state’s first ‘Clean Marinas’ falls in the midst of National Clean Boating Week and coincides with the one year anniversary of the announcement of CMI.

Signing the ‘Clean Marina’ pledge is the first step toward receiving recognition as an environmentally-responsible marina. So far, 64 marinas have taken the pledge. The initiative’s organizers hope to convert all those pledges into ‘Clean Marina’ certifications. There are currently 600 marinas in the state and CMI’s goal is to certify 150 of those as ‘Clean Marinas’ by 2004.

Maryland’s CMI is considered a national model. Only Florida has a similar awards program, their’s does not include boatyards. States including Oregon, Montana, and North Carolina and the Tennessee Valley Authority have expressed an interest in launching CMI-like programs in their jurisdictions. The District of Columbia has already begun developing a program with similar objectives.

For more details about the Maryland Clean Marina Initiative, call the Department of Natural Resources at (888) 620-8DNR, ext. 8770 or check DNR’s website at www.dnr.state.md.us/boating.