American Boating Association Clean Boating and Environmental Stewardship. (ehpnet).More and more people in the United States are using water for a variety of recreational purposes. The 1997 National Survey on Recreation and the Environment found that from 1983 to 1995 the number of boaters increased 25% and the number of people swimming in bodies of water besides swimming pools increased over 38%. To educate boaters and the general public about keeping marine environments clean and safe, the Harwich Port, Massachusetts-based American Boating Association has developed a Clean Boating and Environmental Stewardship page as part of its American Boating Online website. The page, located at http://www.americanboating.org/clean.htm includes information on more than 30 topics, ranging from clean boat sanding techniques to harmful algal blooms. The How to Be a Clean Boater section addresses the importance of environmentally friendly boat maintenance and use, and explains how the processes of sanding, painting, fueling, pumping out, and trash disposal can negatively impact human and marine ecosystem health. This section offers guidelines for performing routine boat care in ways that reduce air and water pollution, and provides brief overviews of federal regulations on human waste disposal. Embedded links lead to brochures and fact sheets from federal agencies and the Marine Environmental Education Foundation on alternatives to conventional cleaning products and paints, as well as suggestions for best management practices that marina owners can implement to reduce their facilities' environmental impact on neighboring waterways. The Boating and Family Health and Safety section includes information on three problems of special concern to those who might not boat themselves but who also enjoy recreational waters: disease-causing microorganisms, food poisoning food poisoning, acute illness following the eating of foods contaminated by bacteria, bacterial toxins, natural poisons, or harmful chemical substances. It was once customary to classify all such illnesses as "ptomaine poisoning," but it was later discovered that from contaminated fish and shellfish, and personal injury from waterborne trash. This section outlines the extent of these problems in the United States and links to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and (EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. ) water quality report to Congress. Other resources include links to the EPA's BEACH Watch website (which posts updates on water quality at beaches around the country), fish consumption advisories, and educational materials from the Santa Monica Bay Santa Monica Bay is an arm of the Pacific Ocean in southern California, United States. Its boundaries are slightly ambiguous, but it is generally considered to be the part of the Pacific within an imaginary line drawn between Point Dume Restoration Project and Heal the Bay Heal the Bay is a U.S. environmental advocacy non-profit organization based in Santa Monica, California. Heal the Bay is dedicated to protecting California's Santa Monica Bay, a region of the Pacific coast encompassed by Malibu's Point Dume on the north and the Palos Verdes , a California-based advocacy group. Elsewhere in this section is information on harmful algal blooms and microbial microbial pertaining to or emanating from a microbe. microbial digestion the breakdown of organic material, especially feedstuffs, by microbial organisms. threats including Cryptosporidium cryptosporidium (krĭp'tōspərĭd`ēəm), genus of protozoans having at least four species; they are waterborne parasites that cause the disease cryptosporidiosis. and Pfiesteria piscicida. The Boating and Our Environment section describes the effects of air pollutant emissions, sewage dumping, shipboard ship·board n. 1. The condition of being aboard a ship: on shipboard. 2. Archaic The side of a ship. adj. trash, and fuel and oil spills, as well as the habitat disruption that results from a boat's wake. Visitors can read summaries or full Federal Register documentation of EPA regulations regarding these pollution sources. |
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