Dear Editor:
Re: Beaches at Risk from Sewage Changes, Jan. 25 front-page story.
I don’t understand why Dr. Mark Lysyshyn feels Transport Canada’s proposed change regarding the discharge of sewage would mainly target pleasure craft. Most pleasure craft operators I know have great respect for their environment and would not want to flush their tanks within one nautical mile of shore or discharge sewage into waters we all use for recreation.
We have approximately 15 pump-out stations throughout the Vancouver area that are accessible to pleasure craft.
The article states the proposed change in sewage regulation by Transport Canada would affect boats under 400 gross tonnes certified for fewer than 15 passengers.
This gross tonnage could therefore include a lot of commercial vessels, some Coast Guard vessels, oil spill recovery vessels, tug boats as well as many other commercial marine vessels now and those projected to use our waters in the future.
My 32-foot sailboat is six tonnes and most pleasure craft are less than 20 tonnes, so I don’t think Transport Canada is mainly targeting pleasure craft and why would they? I would suspect they are giving more leniency to larger service vessels regarding sewage disposal anticipating an increase in tanker traffic.
I am in full agreement with Dr. Lysyshyn regarding the protection of our waters. The three-nautical mile limit from the shoreline for marine disposal of sewage should not be decreased and the federal government should be designating all of Burrard Inlet a “no-discharge” zone.
Patrick Brereton
North Vancouver
