b'C H A P T E R SI Xdumped within three miles of nearest land. Further, any boat with a head had to have a marine sanitation device on board. If an operator wanted to use the craft in waters where dumping of sewage was barred, the M. S. D. would have to be padlocked or wired in the closed position. Coast Guard pamphlets and periodic boat inspections make those rules thoroughly clear.As the number of hulls using Stage Harbor climbed, the potential for violation went up, too. At Stage Harbor Marine, owner Andy Meincke calculates that in the 30 years his family has managed the yard, the boat census has gone up at least one-third. With the gradual closing of previous channels from Chatham Harbor, more and more big boats were using Stage Harbor; above 25 feet, they all had heads. But, adds Meincke, All of them had the ability to pump out directly into the water. There was concern.The down side was quite apparent to those writing the Stage Harbor Management Plan. So they addressed the issue as one facet of the materializingSpending his working years at the edge document. There was no set-in-stoneof Stage Harbor, with boats coming and requirement from the state to create agoing all the time, marina owner Andy pump-out station (P. O. S.). But it seemedMeincke has known more than many wise to the planners, and they fixed thatabout the risks of boat-caused pollution.option into the plans language.Among the seventeen actions spelled out in the draft of July 29, 1991, number 7 aimed to Develop Pump-out Facilities. Why? Because, Given the high number of moorings in the Stage Harbor system, it is important that there be no dumping of untreated and treated sanitary waste in the harbor. The details stated that the P. O. S. should be at Old Mill Boat Yard or a commercial marina, and the service should be free to skippers and boat-owners.In actuality, Chatham had already made up its mind to create such a facility. At a Town Meeting May 9, 1989, the 415 present voted unanimously to appropriate $10,000 for a pump-out station. And as early as 1990, Bob Duncanson, director of the Towns laboratory, was sizing up the mechanisms for making that concept an actuality.82'