Illegally Discharging Waste in FL

[lorenzo b]

We have a 225 gallon holding tank directly below the toilet with no Y valve. Every three month I go out to sea and discharge. A very simple solution to a simple problem. If you are in an area that has pump out service, use it.

[rebel heart]

All through Mexico, there are probably five guys using holding tanks.

[boatsail]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

No, I won't. Not much fun engaging in a battle of wits with unarmed opponents.

I'm going to start using that saying!

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

...with a little careful dancing I'd bet you CAN get a "city" boat written up...

Except that we weren't actually talking about a city boat (I know the way I worded it was not clear). We were talking about the city's municipal waste system, which, like most coastal cities, will dump untreated (or at least minimally treated) sewage just off-shore whenever the need arises.

It's ridiculous that they will fine boaters for dumping the least little bit, but are perfectly fine with the city now and then dumping thousands upon thousands of gallons.

Yet, once again, it's legal for the city to do that. It's not legal for any of us to dump even a few ounces. Ridiculous, but that's the law, and fair or not I don 't wish to risk my boat just to make a point.

[hellosailor]

"It's ridiculous that"
I am convinced this is why 80% of the citizens in the US were never supposed to be allowed to vote. Municipal waste? if the municipal, state, and federal laws can't be changed or invoked to force a change then you have to accept the definition of a democracy: A system where the minority get screwed.

[F51]

Ok. Our forward head is plumbed to a holding tank. Aft head is direct discharge. When inside 3mi, the door to the aft head is locked and only the capt. has the key. Passed a USCG safety inspection with this configuration. Are you sayin' we will have trouble when we get to Key West?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

It is perfectly legal for me to stand on the back of my boat and pee directly into the water, but illegal for me to pee into a cup and then dump the cup into the water.

No it is not! Just because it isn't cover by boat regulations that are written to cover boat systems and operations, doesn't make it legal.

I get tired of reading this ridiculous statement by all the boat lawyers!

[hellosailor]

DonL, what are you saying "is not" ?

That it "is not" legal for d0n to pee over the side?
Or that it "is not" illegal for him to empty a cup of pee over the side?

Or that both are wrong?

[sailorboy1]

I don't feel either is legal! Just because a boat reg does not specifically address something doesn't make it legal. The intent of those regs are to keep waste out of the water, trying to play some word game isn't going to cut it when it comes down to it.

Do people feel it is "legal" for someone to pee or dump waste in their yard?

[hellosailor]

"Do people feel it is "legal" for someone to pee or dump waste in their yard? "
You seem confused over "legal" Don. Legal means legal, something defined in the legal codes, and whether people "feel" or "think" something might be legal has got nothing to do with whether it is.

You can pee over the rail. That's legal unless you know of some statute that makes it illegal. You can't pour a cup full of pee overboard legally, because that's defined by statute as being the discharge of a vessel or container that was kep aboard the vessel.

You don't want anyone peeing in the ocean? Start by pulling out all those fish. Like WC Fields said, he'd never drink water because the fish *copulate* in it.

Urine may be distasteful and you might want to keep kids out of the pool, but at least it is normally sterile, unlike fecal matter. And you can't put a person in the water, at all, without fecal contamination happening.

[FSMike]

Originally Posted by Don L

---
Just because a boat reg does not specifically address something doesn't make it legal. ---

Don, if it were really that simple there wouldn't be any lawyers.

[cuthbert]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Urine may be distasteful.... but at least it is normally sterile, unlike fecal matter.

An important distinction, emptying pee outside a marina and with some thought to the tide and geography is practical and sensible, regardless of what the law says. A No 2 however is a pump out, or again some distance out with a consideration of the tide.

That some part time reservist CG sailing instructor (in the original post) thinks he is above the law would make me ruminate on how much else he was teaching was off the mark also.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by hellosailor;1183268You seem confused over "legal" Don. Legal means legal, something defined in the legal codes, and whether people "feel" or "think" something might be legal has got nothing to do with whether it is. [COLOR=red

I'm not confused about anything (related to this) no matter how many word games you play.[/COLOR]

You can pee over the rail. That's legal unless you know of some statute that makes it illegal. You can't pour a cup full of pee overboard legally, because that's defined by statute as being the discharge of a vessel or container that was kep aboard the vessel. I bet the same law that makes in not legal to do this on the street or in someones front yard applies. Or is your position that all other laws no longer apply once on a boat because they aren't in the Conregs?

You don't want anyone peeing in the ocean? Start by pulling out all those fish. Like WC Fields said, he'd never drink water because the fish **** in it. What a "crap" argument! Lets be real once in a while.

Reminds of an ethic and the law class I took once, "if you follow the letter of the law does that make your actions ethic?"

When I break the rules or laws I admit it to myself, I don't try a word games to make it "right".

I'm a boater not a lawyer, if you want to play some word game about the law go spend time on a lawyer site!

[Blue Crab]

I can't think of anything more encouraging illegal discharges than charging a buck a gal for pumpouts as referred to above.

The next step is a govt chart with how much poo per person per day since your last pumpout. Not enough poo at the poo checkpoint being de facto proof of illegal dumping.

[Kettlewell]

So the county’s 14,000 miles of sewer lines continue to leak and break. In the last two years alone, lines have ruptured at least 65 times, spilling more than 47 million gallons of raw sewage. Last summer the EPA and the Justice Department finally cracked down, threatening huge fines for non-compliance with federal laws. Negotiations began again.

Quote from an interesting article on where some of the real pollution in Florida comes from.