- Protect Your Property Value
Most lending institutions are requiring environmental audits for boatyard and marina financing. Just like a termite inspection on a home, banks want to ensure that a property has a clean bill of health and will not incur very high environmental remediation costs. Bringing your power-wash operations into compliance now will greatly reduce the flow of toxic heavy metals onto your property.
A lot of cleansing rainwater flows across your yard annually. A year of cleansing may save you enormous headaches and expense if you decide to sell or refinance your property. (Note: The stormwater initially discharged during the cleansing process will very likely contain heavy metals above legal discharge levels.)
A 2007 North Carolina Division of Water Quality study found that typical boat-wash wastewater contains 69,000 times more copper than the Federal Clean Water Act allows for discharge.
Nightmare Scenario – An EPA audit of a boatyard in Oregon led to the EPA declaring the yard a toxic waste site. The EPA arrested, fined, then sued the owner AND the previous two owners of the boatyard to help cover the millions of dollars that taxpayers spent removing toxins from the property.
- Protect Against Large Fines
Most jurisdictions require periodic testing of stormwater. Many states require tests every six months, and if toxic discharge target levels are elevated they often step up the testing intervals and mandate improvement. The costs of sampling and analysis by a certified chemical laboratory are expensive. Add in the costs of writing permit documents adds significantly to the costs.
Nightmare Scenario – The EPA recently mandated that a large California boatyard must collect and treat every drop of rain water.
If your facility starts recycling boat-wash wastewater now – the metal levels in your stormwater will decrease.
3. Free Publicity
Ever notice how many media features focus on companies that adopt new “green and clean” practices that positively impact the environment? If a marina grabs a vanguard position in environmental compliance; their initiatives will likely be publicized in local, state and possibly the national press.
- Increased Market Share
Consumers are increasingly Green Conscious. Have you noticed how much of automobile marketing is now focused on the “greenness” of their new models? Market research reveals that the environmental friendliness of products and services play key roles in purchase decisions.
- Avoid the thin ice
Imagine a competitor who has made an investment to bring its boat-washing operations into compliance. What is the possibility that the compliant owner will call to complain to regulatory officers and/or the media about illegal discharges?
How would the media respond? Do you want to risk the negative publicity?
5. Improved relations with compliance authorities
A customer was applying for a permit to dredge and to extend a dock. They relayed that the permit was easier to secure because they had demonstrated a commitment to protect the environment by bringing their boat-wash operations into compliance.
- Positive cash flow
If marinas go clean and green, they can attain a positive return on their compliance investment.Are you contracting to have your boatwash and bilge wastewater hauled off?
The approximate BASE cost to have wastewater hauled off-site in North Carolina is about $0.60 per gallon. Increasingly licensed haulers are requiring periodic tests of the wastewater. These tests along with other fees like pick-up fees and fuel surcharges can increase haul-off costs significantly. While the quantity of boat-wash wastewater generated will vary greatly from marina to marina; a North Carolina Sea Grant study estimated that the average N.C. yard would generate approximately 11,000 gallons of wastewater annually. At $0.60 per gallon, average annual hauling fees would be at least $6,000.
The VANISH System supplies to treat 11,000 gallons of wastewater is about $330.
This is an annual profit of $5,670.
The advantages of going clean and green now are great. For more information about solving powerwash compliance issues and wastewater treatment and recycle systems, contact us.
