Marina Dock Age

By Rob Preston

When Steuart Chaney bought Herrington Harbour South in 1978, he had one goal. “To be the best eco-sensitive, eco-lifestyle marina resort on the east coast.”

Now more than 30 years later, he and his family own and operate two marinas, Herrington Harbour North and Herrington Harbour South on Herring Bay, which is part of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Both marinas have about 600 slips each and are well known for not only protecting the environment, but actually enhancing the natural habitat.

Herrington Harbour has succeeded in being one of the most environmentally friendly marinas in the United States by:
•    Planting a living shoreline
•    Achieving a no discharge zone for Herring Bay
•    Offering free pumpouts
•    Starting a recycling program
•    Creating a wildlife habitat
•    Installing waste water filters
•    Removing old sunken boats
•    Renovating aging buildings
•    Helping to create the Maryland “Clean Marina Program”

When Chaney bought Herrington Harbour South, it needed a lot of work just to make the marina operational. “The piers were literally falling into the water, the grounds were filthy, the launching facility had been closed, and the offices were boarded up,” said Chaney.

When Cheney took his first steps to renovate the marina, he also made good on his promise to create a facility that not only protected the environment, but also enhanced it. He replaced the marina’s original untreated pine lumber docks with composite fixed docks.

The living shoreline
Chaney then went about fixing the marina’s shoreline.

When he purchased Herrington Harbour South, Chaney saw that the previous owners had placed concrete bulkheads down on the shoreline to keep it from eroding into Chesapeake Bay, which did not work.
Chaney knew from his years of growing up on a farm that the best way to prevent erosion is to plant native grasses on the shoreline. So he removed the bulkheads and construction debris and planted a living shoreline at Herrington Harbour South. “If there is grass on a hillside, it won’t erode. If you plowed that hillside it washed. And so I applied  the same philosophy to the banks of the marina when we put grass in,” said Chaney.
What’s important to note is that Chaney did not plant just any grass. He did some research and found that Spartina Alterna Flora grasses grew well in saltwater environments and were native to the area. So he planted those grasses right on the shoreline and then added Peytons to the upper shoreline to further fortify the soil. “If you get the elevations right, it stabilizes the shoreline and you can create a habitat area,” said Chaney.
Since that humble beginning, Herrington Harbour has restored or created about 160,000 sq. ft. of marshland. This living shoreline has also helped Herrington Harbour get a handle on the problem of trash washing up on shore. The grasses actually trapped the trash, which allowed for marina personnel to pick it up and throw it away instead of leaving it in the water.

Chaney said these efforts to pick up trash have helped keep Herrington Harbour and the surrounding Herring Bay clean. That’s because boaters are less likely to throw trash in the water if there isn’t any floating around. “Trash breeds trash. The more trash you see in the water, the more likely others will be to throw trash in the water too,” said Chaney.

This extensive living shoreline also serves as a habitat for birds, waterfowl, and small mammals, including diamond back terrapins, which have actually been found to be breeding at the marina. This is quite a feat since terrapins were becoming rare in Herring Bay because they require very clean water to survive. Herrington Harbour deserves a lot of the credit for the water being so clean because in 2002 it led an initiative to have Herring Bay designated as a no discharge zone.

No discharge zone
In 1982 Herrington Harbour South became the first facility on Chesapeake Bay to have a pumpout system, which was well before pumpout systems were mandated by the Clean Water Act. That’s because Chaney and his family knew the importance of keeping sewage out of Herring Bay. “At the end of the day, clean water is the lifeblood of our maritime system,” said Chaney.

Now Herrington Harbour offers free pumpouts to all boaters to discourage dumping. The two marinas also offer clean bathrooms to further encourage all boaters to use the bathrooms on land instead of on their boats where they may be more inclined to dump their sewage into the water. “Last year we pumped about 95,000 gallons of sewage out of boats,” said Chaney. That’s 95,000 gallons that didn’t wind up in Herring Bay, thanks to Herrington Harbour’s hard work.

But Chaney didn’t stop there. In 2002 he worked with the EPA and DNR to have Herring Bay designated as the first “No Discharge Zone” on Chesapeake Bay. “It has become a tremendous learning tool for boaters, so they can understand the significant negative impact the dumping of sewage has on the water,” said Chaney. Buoys mark this “No Discharge Zone,” which means that no sewage can be dumped overboard, while elsewhere on Chesapeake Bay boaters can still dump treated sewage from their boats. It’s this clean water initiative and the living shoreline that are bringing back the terrapins.

A recycling program
Recycling programs at Herrington Harbour have also played major roles in protecting the local environment. For instance, at both Herrington Harbour North and South, motor oil, diesel fuel, antifreeze, cardboard, and shrink-wrap are all recycled. Through this program Herrington Harbour said it was able to keep 50 percent of its waste out of the landfill. Furthermore the Inn at Herrington Harbour South, which offers 36 unique rooms, is a key component to this recycling effort. It provides recycling bins in each room to encourage customers to recycle paper, plastic, metal, and glass. The Inn also uses recyclable cups, plates, and bowls at the continental breakfast, and its bathroom tissue, paper towels, and napkins are made from 100% recycled materials.
At Herrington Harbour North, the yacht yard offers a wastewater recycling system at its travellift wells that properly disposes of barnacles, paint, and other debris that come off after a boat is power washed. Furthermore the wastewater treatment system treats the used water and allows it to be re-used while keeping harmful pollutants out of the water. Finally, in 2008 Herrington Harbour added a “Free Cycle Dumpster” to keep good products from winding up in the bottom of a landfill. The way it works is one person puts something in the dumpster they no longer want and someone else can take that object if they want it. “We found that people love dumpster diving. And boaters throw away good stuff, and so we now have these recycle dumpsters where if you have a mini-refrigerator and it still works, but you don’t want it anymore, you can put it in the dumpster and someone else will use it,” said Jed Dickman, the marina manager at Herrington Harbour South. This “Free Cycle Dumpster” has become quite popular at Herrington Harbour and is keeping potentially usable materials out of the local landfills.

Other environmentally friendly projects
Another way Herrington Harbour has kept usable materials out of the local landfill is by renovating older buildings instead of tearing them down and completely rebuilding with new materials. For example, some of the buildings at present day Herrington Harbour were originally at the marina when Chaney bought it in1978. “We’ve maintained most of the buildings. Some of them are actually approaching a historic designation because they’re 60 or 70 years old. One such building was the yacht club. It’s been restored and it’s used for catering and a restaurant,” said Chaney.

The Chaney family has also undertaken a large effort to preserve historic buildings in the community and keep them from being demolished. That’s because the Chaney family has been living near Friendship, Md., for the past 400 years, and some of these historic buildings have sentimental value.

On another level, however,  the family is also saving these historic buildings to keep useable materials out of the landfill. As a result, Herrington Harbour North has refurbished 12 historic buildings to offer customers some history along with their boating experience.

Feasibility
During the past two years, Herrington Harbour has preserved 600 acres of forest land on its property as a habitat for native species. “Brazilian birds migrate north to that forest every year to lay their eggs before returning south. These birds rely on this land for protection and for a suitable site for their eggs,” said Hamilton Chaney, the owner and operator of Herrington Harbour North.

Although Steuart Chaney and his family have the land and the money to accomplish all these wonderful environmental projects, they do admit that most marinas simply do not have the resources to do what Herrington Harbour has done. However, Steuart Chaney said all marinas can and should do something to protect the environment even if it’s just to save money.

Herrington Harbour has reduced the amount of trash it sends to the landfill in half, thanks to its recycling programs. Not every marina can reduce their trash output by 50%, but they can do something in this regard, said Chaney.

As Herrington Harbour became eco-friendly, it also brought more business and more customers to the marina because boaters want that feeling of being in nature, while still enjoying the boating experience. So while these environmental projects are costly and time-consuming, Herrington Harbour said these environmental efforts have brought in lots of customers to both marinas. “It costs us money to be so environmentally friendly, but we believe people come to Herrington because we are a natural get-away where our customers can reconnect with nature while enjoying the boating experience,” said Steuart Chaney.

There aren’t many marinas that offer nature trails or bird watching, while also offering a top of the line marina for its customers. But Herrington Harbour has pulled it off.