Marina Dock Age

Since the 1980s more than $660 million have been spent to clean up the Thea Foss Waterway and Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Wash.

The Thea Foss Waterway is a mile and a half inlet off Commencement Bay that runs along downtown Tacoma while Commencement Bay is part of Puget Sound.

These two areas were polluted from heavy industrial use beginning in the early 1990s and due to storm water runoff.

To celebrate this extensive cleanup and protect these waterways from future pollution, Citizens for a Healthy Bay, an organization dedicated to protecting the bay and surrounding waters, started the Clean Green Boating Fair in 2009.

Clean Green Boating Fair

On May 2, 2009, Citizens for a Healthy Bay (CHB) partnered with the Tacoma Liveaboard Association (TLA) to host the first annual Clean Green Boating Fair. The goal of this fair was to recognize the extensive cleanup efforts that had already been taken and to offer environmentally friendly boating tips to liveaboards and other boaters to protect the Thea Foss Waterway, Commencement Bay, and Puget Sound in the future.

Boaters were told about the importance of using pumpouts instead of dumping waste into Puget Sound and which marinas had pumpouts. Boaters were also given a kit with environmentally friendly products, including a bilge pillow that will absorb any petroleum products from bilge pumps, an absorbent pad that is used to soak up oil or other toxic substances, and a fuel bib that is put around a fuel nozzle to catch any overflowing gas.

The fair was attended by the mayor of Tacoma, and representatives from EPA, DNR, and the Port of Tacoma, who set up information booths. The event was held in the Delin Docks Marina parking lot due to a limited budget of only $500. The porta-toilets, tents, and public announcement system used in the fair were all in-kind donations from businesses and individuals.

Clean Green Boating Festival

This year, CHB and TLA are once again holding the Clean Green Boating Fair but with some key changes. This year’s event will be held on a different date, May 22, 2010. Most importantly they are now calling it a festival. “We are calling this event a festival because, while the focus is still on environmental awareness, we really want it to be fun for boaters and the public,” said Jeff Barney, Bay Patrol Director for CHB.

To make this event more fun, Barney is making it bigger and better. The Clean Green Boating Festival will be held this year at the Foss Waterway Seaport, which will provide participants with 1,350 feet of dock space and a promenade that overlooks the water.

Thanks to a bigger budget of $3,500 from donations and a small grant from the city of Tacoma for advertising, the Clean Green Boating Festival will include three food vendors, live music, more booths for people to interact with environmental agencies, and even more information for the public about how to protect Puget Sound and the Thea Foss Waterway.

During this festival, different environmental experts will give presentations to the public about protecting the environment. One such presentation will talk about where to hold charitable carwashes to prevent the wash water from running into Puget Sound. “Often times students or other organizations will have their carwashes in a location where the water runs directly into the Thea Foss Waterway. So we’ll suggest alternative locations where runoff won’t be a problem,” said Barney.

Besides providing boaters with the kit of environmental products from last year and making presentations about green practices like using pumpouts, Barney said boaters will also get a booklet that lists several green products they can use. Barney said speakers will also address homeowners about some environmentally friendly fertilizers that they can use on their lawn to keep dangerous chemicals out of Puget Sound.

“We hope that this festival will turn into a regional event where we can reach more and more people about the importance of keeping these waterways clean for future generations,” said Barney.

Rob Preston is managing editor of Marina Dock Age magazine. He can be reached by phone at 847/647-2900 ext. 1311 or via e-mail at rpreston@prestonpub.com.