BREWER SEEKS MORE
‘CLEAN MARINA’ TAGS
Big Northeastern chain intends to get all 21 of its yards up to speed environmentally
Brewer Piillots Poiint Mariina iin
Westbrook, Conn..,, iis the ffiirst off
the 211 Brewer-owned yards to be
certiiffiied as a Cllean Mariina..
By Elizabeth Ellis / Staff Writer
As boatyards and marinas nationwide adopt
procedures and practices that minimize impact on the environment in the name of
“good business,” Brewer Yacht Yards and Marinas are
planning a chain reaction.
The first of 21 sites, Brewer Pilots Point Marina in
Westbrook, Conn., — its largest yard — recently
earned the official state Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) title of
Clean Marina.
“They’ve done a fantastic job and
we’re very proud of them,” says Jack
Brewer, owner of the chain. “It is our
mission over the next few years to
get all of our marinas designated as
clean marinas.”
Brewer-owned yards span from
South Freeport, Maine, to Port Washington, N.Y. The smallest is Post Road Boatyard in
Mamaroneck, N.Y., with 50 slips, two acres and
17 employees.
Rives Potts, 59, general manager of Pilots Point
since 1980, says they now have a Clean Marina
flag they can raise proudly over the 863 slips and
70 acres the yard encompasses and a letterhead
they can use for marketing. Though it was a five-
year struggle to gain the title, having a “clean marina” is something Potts says he has always been
passionate about, and he strives to pass that
passion onto his 80 employees.
“We’ve been practicing clean-marina techniques,
even before the Clean Marina regulations came out,”
says Potts. “We were doing separation pots for the
wash-down, recycling and brush cleaning.”
In 2007, Pilots Point spent $75,000 and 800 labor
not easy to get this designation. It takes a lot of work
to get there and maintain it.”
hours keeping its facilities “green” and compliant.
How long it takes to obtain the Clean Marina title depends on how large the facility is and what permits
and regulations it must adhere to from state to state,
according to Jack Brewer.
“Maine is suggesting that runoff is not deleterious
and they are allowing them to do that, whereas other
states such as Rhode Island do not,” says Brewer. “It’s
The evolution
Potts says when the Connecticut DEP approached
them in 2000 about creating a set of guidelines for
local marinas to follow to ensure clean marina status,
they jumped at the opportunity.
“We met with the DEP once a month for about three
years,” says Potts. “It was about developing a plan that the industry could easily
understand and implement.”
The result in 2002 was the Connecticut Clean Marina Guidebook, which
gives guidelines on everything from
painting and fiberglass repair to emergency planning. A checklist is also available to ensure all the steps have been
followed to gain the Clean Marina title.
“The regulatory agencies and the gov-
ernment work on a different wavelength, and they
are immersed in legal language all the time,” says
Potts. “We needed a set of guidelines that would be
easy to follow by the regular guy in the boatyard.”
Potts says much of what was required were practices Pilots Point had already implemented.
“For instance, one regulation says to separate oil
continued on Page 18
WILLIAM J. ROSSER; CRAIG MILNER (FROM TOP)
“I think our customers have become
more savvy on environmental issues
because of the number of favorable
comments on our efforts.”
— Rives Potts, general manager, Pilots Point Marina
