No sewage dumping in Puget Sound

Puget Sound would no longer be a toilet for vessels dumping raw or partially treated sewage overboard under a regulation proposed by the state Department of Ecology.

The new rule would require any vessel with a permanent toilet aboard to store waste until it could be pumped out ashore, instead of dumping it overboard.

Vessel owners now may dump raw sewage in Puget Sound 3 miles from shore, and dump partially treated sewage overboard — even at the dock.

The onboard treatment systems are not sufficient to protect Puget Sound, said Josh Baldi, Northwest regional director of the state Department of Ecology.

Sewage dumped at the surface of the water can be a heavy hit of bacterial pollution to shellfish harvest, swimmers and marine life. “It doesn’t take much to foul a (shellfish) bed, or get somebody sick,” Baldi said.

Tugs, commercial vessels and even some of NOAA Fisheries’ research and survey vessels will need to make changes to meet the new standards, Baldi said. There is a five-year grace period to do so.

Cruise ships hold treated sewage until they are out in Pacific waters, under a memorandum of agreement with Ecology.