Clean Marine Solutions

Clean Marine Solutions, LLC and its associates bring decades of experience to the challenge of bringing affordable, reliable, easy to operate and easy to permit power-wash wastewater recycle systems. These associates possess key skills in water treatment chemistry, programmable logic controller programming, electrical and electronic design and manufacture, steel and plastic welding and treatment system design and manufacture.

In 2009 Clean Marine Solutions received the largest North Carolina Green Business Fund Grant (NCGBF) in the environmental category. The North Carolina Board of Science and Technology administers the grant. The board reviewed 300 proposals. Fourteen grants were awarded. There were four companies that were honored to have their proposals fully-funded:

• Semprius Inc.
• North Carolina State University’s Solar Center
• Charlotte, NC’s Regional Biofuel Facility
• Clean Marine Solutions, LLC

Clean Marine Solutions is very proud to have our company logo alongside such stellar institutions.

The NCGBF grant boosted CMS’s ability to extensively test and refine our Marina Power-Wash Wastewater Recycle System. It also provided funds to develop a power-washing compliance template clearly laying out for boatyard and marina owners what they needed to do in order to be bring their power-washing operations into compliance with government regulations.

Clean Marine Solutions took on the delicate role of trying to satisfy the requirements of two entities that have traditionally been at odds with each other: environmental compliance authorities on one side and boatyard and marina owners on the other.

We were successful in breaking the log-jam.

On July 1, 2010, Specialty Boatworks in Brunswick County received a letter from the NCDWQ notifying that their “Deemed Permitted” request had been approved. Specialty bought our VANISH 300 and used our Environmental Compliance Plan Template.

Excerpt from Letter from NC Division of Water Quality, July 1, 2010:

In accordance with NC State Administrative Code 15A NCAC 02T, effective September 1, 2006, the recycle system at Specialty Boatworks meets the requirements of Section .1003(a) for systems to be deemed permitted. The recycle system at Specialty Boatworks is not required to apply for a closed loop recycle permit provided that the facility continues to comply with the requirements of 15A NCAC 02T .1000.

“Deemed Permitted” status means that Specialty did not have to go through the costly and lengthy recycle permitting process. Several permitting experts shared that the full permitting process could take up to a year and cost over $8,000. Specialty only had to pay for a stamp to mail our customized compliance plan to the NCDWQ.

Alan Rusher, President of Specialty Boatworks in Wilmington, North Carolina sums it up in his comments about his VANISH 300:

“We really like the VANISH system. It is so easy to maintain and operate that it is almost fool-proof. Specialty Boatworks is proud to be the first boatyard in North Carolina to have their power-washing recycling operations permitted by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Incidentally, permitting was easy. We used Clean Marine Solutions compliance template. Authorities came to our yard to observe the system and our operations. We received a letter of compliance from NCDENR within a week. And perhaps best of all, because the system is so easy to operate, they did not require us to have a licensed wastewater operator on staff.”

Clean Marine Solutions VANISH 300 system has been featured in articles in the following international marine publications:

• Professional Boatbuilder (August/ September issue)
• Marina World  (January / February 2010)

We are also grateful for the help and support of:

• Marina owners who provided invaluable feedback on the development of our prototype
• The North Carolina Department of Environmental Resources
• The North Carolina Division of Water Quality
• The North Carolina Department of Commerce
• The University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s Chemistry Department
• The University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s Small Business and Technology and Development Center
• NC Boating Industry Services
• Dr. Mark Fonseca, National Oceanic and  Atmospheric Administration, Beaufort, NC
• Dr. Fred Yost, chemistry instructor at Carteret Community College, Morehead City, NC

Our Mission Statement

Clean Marine Solutions’ mission is to help reverse decades of environmental degradation caused by the flow of toxic marine power-wash wastewater into our precious and fragile waterways.

We will build quality wastewater recycle systems that are affordable, easy to use, that produce impeccably clean water for recycling and that will be easily permitted by compliance authorities.

We pledge to go beyond offering the best value in Marina Power-Wash Wastewater Recycle Systems. We pledge to serve as our customers’ environmental compliance partner and tailor the best clean marine solution to their particular facilities’ needs.

David Flagler, CEO

David has over 30 years experience in the marine business. He studied chemistry and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  David conducted his first experiments clarifying marine power-wash wastewater over twenty years ago as the lead instructor of the boatbuilding program at Cape Fear Community College.

In 1995, David served as director and tenured professor at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu Community College’s new Marine Education and Training Center, he trained students and marina operators in operation of a wastewater treatment system that was successfully permitted by the City of Honolulu.

David also served as the first Director of the North Carolina Marine Training and Education Center at Carteret Community College in Morehead City, NC.

Mr. Flagler has been a frequent presenter and moderator at the International Boat Builders Conference and Exhibit (IBEX) since 1998. IBEX is produced by Professional Boat Builder magazine and the National Marine Manufacturers Association.  David made a seminar presentation in Miami, Florida at IBEX 2009 that addressed the challenges and the advantages of boatyards “going green.” The seminar was sponsored by the American BoatBuilders and Repairers Association.

In addition, David:

• Serves on United States Congressman Mike McIntyre’s Environmental Task Force.
• Served on the North Carolina Eastern Region Strategic Planning Committee.
• Seminar speaker at the 2005 Conference on Marine Industry Technical Training
• Member of the planning / advisory board for the 2007 International Boat Building Exhibition and Conference.