Clean your sheen. Put a sock in it!

A poorly maintained boat engine or an accidental spill may result in oil, gas, or diesel fuel collecting in a boat’s bilge. When discharged from the bilge into the marine environment, these hydrocarbons are toxic to marine plants and animals. The Coastal Resources Management Office, Division of Environmental Quality, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife through funding from the National and Atmospheric Administration Oceanic, teamed up to address this concern, and to raise public awareness about it on Rota last Friday, Dec. 3, 2004.

Rota’s East Marina served as the launch site for the Boater’s Awareness Campaign in the CNMI. The theme for the campaign was, “Clean your sheen. Put a sock in it! ”, urging boaters to use a bilge sock to help absorb accumulated hydrocarbons. CRM and DEQ employees were on hand to dispense information about clean boating habits, as well as give out free Enviro-Bond™ bilge socks, t-shirts, floating key chains, and lanyards.

When a bilge sock is placed in a boat’s bilge, the sock quickly absorbs the collected hydrocarbons it comes into contact with, while allowing water to flow on through. A special polymer inside converts liquid hydrocarbons into a solid, rubber-like material that is safe to be disposed of in a landfill. Depending on how frequently you use your boat, a bilge sock can last between three to six months, and absorb and bond about 2.5 quarts of oil, gasoline, and diesel.

About 30 bilge socks were given away to both private and commercial boaters who attended the campaign. CRMO’s Julie Manibusan said that by giving away bilge socks, the environmental agencies are trying to “motivate boater’s to regularly purchase and use bilge socks on their own, thereby observing clean boating habits.”

Presently, bilge socks are only available from off-island distributors, but Manibusan says that CRMO is currently working with marine vendors to make them available locally in the near future.

A limited amount of bilge socks are still available for free at the Rota and Saipan CRMO. Boaters can obtain them by calling the Rota CRMO at 532-0464, or the Saipan CRMO at 664-8300. Keep an eye on the Environmental Page for the next Boater’s Awareness Campaign on Tinian and Saipan, and…. Clean your sheen. Put a sock in it! (John Dax Moreno)

Moreno is the Coral Resource Management Office outreach and education coordinator.