By Cecilia Nasmith
The Town of Cobourg's Community Services Division is pleased to announce that the Cobourg Marina has achieved the Diamond Elite rating in the 2022 Clean Marine Program.
This eco-rating program was developed in Ontario as an environmental initiative to encourage marine facilities to follow bet environmental practices to reduce and prevent water, air and land pollutions associated with on-water activities.
Since its creation in 1995, more than 300 business have participated, making the Clean Marine Program the world's leading environmental Best Management Practices for marinas, boat dealers, yacht clubs and marine businesses.
The town has participated in this initiative since 2017. In that first year, Waterfront Operations staff introduced processes to improve upon recycling and waste reduction, fueling practices and improved documentation of environmentally friendly policies and procedures. The success of these innovations resulted in a Five Green Anchor rating - making Cobourg's only the second marina in the program's history to receive such a high rating on their first audit.
In the winter of 2022, staff completed the Clean Marine Self-Assessment, qualifying the marina for an audit during boating season by a Boating Ontario representative. The resulting score of 96.01% brought the Diamond Elite rating – the highest possible rating the program offers.
Among this year's initiatives was the installation of a Seabin, an updated water-testing program, modernized fueling and pump-out practices (and corresponding training), installation of a high-efficiency furnace in the marina facility and the addition of a new spill-containment system to the fuel dock.
Waterfront Operations staff are pleased to share this achievement with the community, and plan on displaying the Clean Marine Plaque proudly in the marina's reception area.
Director of Community Services Brian Geerts – a boater himself – said in the announcement that the Clean Marine rating shows that a marina has adopted the highest environmental standards for marinas in the world.
“The initiative is well in line with the Town of Cobourg's Strategic Plan objective to be good stewards and practice sustainable actions, and staff take great pride in our abilities to meet and exceed the criteria set out in the program,” Geerts added.
The press release added some details about the Clean Marine Program, which administers a comprehensive audit to its members to measure compliance with standards set out in the Clean Marine Operations Handbook – which was developed through the co-operation of Boating Ontario, Environment Canada and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. It sets out more than 200 environmental practices covering all aspects of marine operations from fueling to waste oil, shrink-wrap, recycling, refuse collection, energy conservation and environmental protection.
Marinas voluntarily join the program to participate in a 220-point assessment, scores from which are converted into a new Eco-Rating system where rankings go from Bronze (60-69%) to Silver (70-79%) to Gold (80-89%) to Diamond (90-95%) all the way to Diamond Elite (96-100%). This highest achievement is typically attained after several years of dedication and altering practices.
To learn more about the Clean Marine Program, visit the Boating Ontario website.
