There are hundreds of marinas 鈥� and thousands of boats 鈥� spread across the Great Lakes. And that means there鈥檚 a lot of potential for pollution.
Ohio and five other Great Lakes states have Clean Marina that aim to improve air and water quality. They teach marina owners how to prevent pollution.
On Feb. 21, Ohio鈥檚 program will hold a day-long training . Marina owners will learn best practices 鈥� such as recycling fishing lines or reducing oil spills. runs the program.
鈥淧art of our mission ... is to see what鈥檚 happening in terms of issues on Lake Erie, issues in Ohio, environmental regulations down the road may be bringing to the state of Ohio, and provide that education to give our marina owners a heads up and be proactive on these types of issues,鈥� says Orlando.
There are more than 400 marinas and over 500,000 registered boats in Ohio.
Participants also will learn about new storm-water permits, managing aquatic plants and controlling wastewater. So far 78 marinas are certified by the program, and 47 more have pledged to work towards a certification.
is a collaboration of ideastream, WBFO Buffalo and WXXI Rochester.
