SALTY DAWG™ Marine Oil Spill Response Kit Helps Boaters To Comply With Clean Marina Standards.

Most boats have compartments inside their hull that serve to capture rain and seawater entering the hull of the boat. These compartments also capture fuel and engine oil that may leak within the boat. Boats with fuel compartments, inboard engines, and drive shafts are far more likely to leak oil into these compartments. Maintenance of inboard engines can also result in spills into the bilge. Many bilges can drain automatically when a boat is in motion, but almost all boats have pumps to evacuate the bilge compartment to prevent boats from swamping. These pumps often turn on automatically when water levels rise too high in the boat. The pumping of bilge water laden with fuel and oil is an important source of oil to the marine environment and is often the cause of the oily sheen seen in some harbors or near some marinas.

In the fall of 1999, the Buzzards Bay Action Committee (BBAC) received a grant from the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management office, through its Coastal Pollution Remediation Program, to provide bilge oil absorption devices to recreational boaters in Buzzards Bay. These devices are generally referred to as "bilge socks", "bilge pads", or "bilge pillows" depending on their shape. The purpose of this initiative was to raise the awareness of the boating community as to the significance of oil and fuel inputs from boat bilge compartment discharges. Additionally, this initiative was meant to encourage boaters to use oil-absorbing bilge socks to capture this oil and fuel before it is discharged to the marine environment. The grant also provided funds for towns to pay for the establishment of collection sites for the bilge socks, and to pay for their disposal. The Town of Dartmouth, on behalf of the Buzzards Bay municipalities, administered the BBAC grant.

Most boats are expected to require one or two bilge socks during each boating season to capture oil and fuel leaking into their bilge compartments. While each boater would get their first bilge sock free through this program, the expectation is that when boaters see the value of the bilge sock, they will continue to purchase and use them on their own. Although it is believed that bilge socks are not widely used by Buzzards Bay boaters, their typical retail cost of $7 to $12 is not viewed as an impediment if their utility and value is recognized and understood. Another benefit of this program is that Buzzards Bay municipalities and private marinas will continue to provide disposal services for bilge socks.

At the request of the Buzzards Bay Action Committee, the Buzzards Bay Project provided technical assistance in the development of the request for proposals and the testing of the bilge socks. A foremost goal of the BBAC was to implement an easy, clean, and cost effective process for recovering bilge oil. Because of concerns about maintaining recycling equipment, OSHA requirements on operating recycling equipment, and permitting and liability issues that would be involved with keep used oil drums on docks, the use of reusable bilge socks was rejected. Instead, single use socks that could be incinerated at conventional waste disposal facilities was the preferred type of product.