Washington State Department of Ecology

Department of Ecology News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Oct. 14, 1999

99-209

Contact: John Glynn, Water Quality Program, (425) 649-7033
Ron Langley, Public Information, (425) 649-7009

Boat cleaning in Poulsbo threatens environment, leads to penalty

BELLEVUE - Poulsbo Boat Works faces a $21,000 penalty from the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) for repeatedly allowing boat owners to clean and paint boats on the shore of Liberty Bay without taking steps to protect the environment.

Ecology has received three complaints this year from people who have observed boat owners cleaning and painting vessels at Poulsbo Boat Works' boat haul-out site at 18691 Fjord Dr. N.E., in Poulsbo.

State water-quality laws allow only minor repairs to boats that are in the water because wastes from scraping and painting boat hulls are toxic to marine life. Cleaning and painting more than one-quarter of a vessel's hull must be done at a boatyard or dry dock that has a permit and facilities to properly handle paint and boat-cleaning wastes.

Site owner Rolland Anderson has been contacted six times in the past six years by Ecology staff, who advised him that he is required to protect Liberty Bay from boat-cleaning wastes. In 1993, Ecology formally warned Anderson that he needed to install proper facilities and obtain a permit. In 1994, Ecology issued an order outlining the same requirements.

Anderson told Ecology he did not need the permit because he did not clean or repair boats at the site.

"Boat-hull paint is intentionally toxic to sea life to help keep hulls clean," said John Glynn, an Ecology water-quality manager. "That's fine while the paint is on the boat, but if the particles get scraped off and end up in the bottom sediments, they can poison fish and other marine life."

Poulsbo Boat Works has the right to ask Ecology to reduce the penalty based on information not available when the penalty was assessed. The owner also has 30 days after receiving the penalty to appeal it to the State Pollution Control Hearings Board in Olympia.