Boatyard owner goes full throttle to protect marine environment

BY TIMOTHY O'HARA

Citizen Staff

There are no used plastic cups, candy wrappers, dirty rags or cleaning supplies littering the Marathon Boat Yard. Tarps line the underbelly of sportfishing yachts that are being built or having their hulls scraped clean. Workers groom boats with power sanders fitted with vacuum bags to keep the paint, dust and debris from polluting the water.

Owner Bruce Popham chastises fishermen who throw their used monofilament line over the sides of their boats. Not even a hose left running at the dock on Thursday escaped the wary eye of Popham, who was quick to turn it off and remind people that Florida is in one of its worst droughts ever.

In the commercial marina industry — one that is hardly synonymous with cleanliness — Popham is a bit of an environmental maverick. Some might say his behavior borders on an obsessive-compulsive disorder. But being a stickler about keeping his 10-acre property clean is what has earned Popham state and national accolades.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in April named Popham one of 10 national environmental heroes at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The Florida Department of Environmental Regulation also deemed his a "Clean Boatyard," through its Clean Marina Program, which recognizes voluntary adherence to its strict environmental policies.

"It's a constant challenge to keep the marina clean," said Popham, chairman of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. "It's not about winning the award. It's about keeping it."

The list of how he does that is endless.

Popham custom-designed a "small sewage facility" that collects runoff water from boats being pressure-washed. The system filters the water in a four-stage tank before it is pumped back into the pressure washer and reused.

Popham encourages his 35 employees to recycle oil, oil filters, antifreeze and bronze, zinc and other metal boat parts by giving them the money they raise or using it for company parties.

He has been instrumental in the success of the Clean Marina Program and played a key role in planning and implementing a program to educate boaters when the Environmental Protection Agency imposed a no-discharge zone in the state's sanctuary waters. Popham told sanctuary and state officials they could not cite people for not pumping out if they didn't provide boaters with the facilities to do it.

"True to his status as a leader in the local business community, Bruce Popham has taken a leadership role in volunteer efforts to protect the environment," said Dave Score, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary superintendent. "Bruce understands that the health of his business is linked to the health of Keys waters."

The state now pumps out 500,000 gallons of sewage a year from Boot Key Harbor in Marathon alone, Popham said.

"That's huge," he said. "You can actually see the difference. The water is that cleaner."

Popham, who pays workers nearly $1 million in salaries annually, has proven that being environmentally conscious does not run contrary to being fiscally sound.

He has served on the board of directors for both the Chamber of Commerce and the Middle Keys Marine Association, and is the secretary for the Marathon Economic Development Council. He also served as past president of the state's Clean Boating Partnership.

"If we want to have people diving and boating in the Keys, we have to have clean water," Popham said. "This is part of our livelihoods."

tohara@keysnews.com