At the beginning of the 2009 California Legislative Session, there were few reasons to be optimistic about the prospect of passing new laws to protect San Francisco Bay.
By Deb Self
Published: December, 2009
Abandoned Boats
With high fuel prices and low numbers of fish and crabs to catch, boat abandonment is on the rise in the Bay-Delta, as in all of California’s waterways. The presence of decaying boats in our waterways poses not only a navigational hazard, but also an environmental and public safety hazard. As boats deteriorate and sink, they can leak pollutants like oil, gasoline and sewage and shed peeling paint contaminated with lead, mercury and chromium. These pollutants can poison the Bay’s aquatic food chain, endangering fish, birds, marine mammals and people.
In response to a growing number of derelict boats in Bay-Delta waters, Baykeeper sponsored a state bill to establish a new program that will help prevent people from abandoning their boats. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), passed the California Legislature unanimously and was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in October. The new program will allow boaters to surrender vessels free of charge and authorize local government agencies to take possession of vessels before they are left to deteriorate in waterways for months or years. Boat owners who want to participate in the program can contact their local county sheriff’s office for more information. We expect the State to save thousands of dollars in haul-out costs for every boat turned in, and to reverse the boat abandonment trend. In the meantime, Baykeeper will continue to monitor the Bay for abandoned boats through our pollution hotline and boat patrols.
Sewage Spills
Baykeeper has been working on the Bay’s persistent sewage spill problem for over a decade, compelling cities and sanitation agencies to reduce sewage overflows. Illegal spills of raw or partially treated sewage occur frequently in the Bay Area when heavy rains overwhelm aging pipes and poorly maintained sewer systems. Many Bay Area residents will remember southern Marin’s overflows last year, which resulted from deferred maintenance of sewer lines and treatment plants. In 2008, more than two million gallons of untreated and partially treated sewage were illegally discharged into Bay waters from Marin County. And, last February, a southern Marin County sanitation district spilled another 500,000 gallons of sewage into the Bay.
This year, Baykeeper partnered with Assemblymember Jared Huffman (D-Marin) to pass legislation to address southern Marin’s sewage spill problem. The new law empowers Marin authorities to implement cost-saving reforms for local wastewater governance, including the consolidation of southern Marin’s eleven small wastewater agencies into a more efficient system of wastewater agencies. We believe that consolidation of small sewage agencies will result in better management of Marin’s sewage infrastructure and, ultimately, less sewage pollution in the Bay.
Even as we celebrate our success in Sacramento, our work for the coming year has already begun. The Bay suffered its second sizeable oil spill in two years, providing an opportunity to build on the oil spill policy reforms we fought for in the wake of the Cosco Busan spill. In the coming year, Baykeeper will be working to make sure the seven oil-spill bills passed last year are thoroughly implemented and funded, and we’ll be examining whether existing fuel transfer regulations are adequate to protect the Bay from the fuel transfers that happen daily in the Bay.
For information and updates about our agenda for clean water in the coming year, visit www.baykeeper.org.
Deb Self is Executive Director of San Francisco Baykeeper, which uses science and advocacy to enforce clean water laws and hold polluters accountable. Deb has 25 years of experience in environmental advocacy and non-profit management, and enjoys paddling the Bay and walking its shorelines.
