Tag Archives: expired marine distress flares
A Maine lobsterman brings up a serious issue. What to do with expired marine distress flares
After a lobsterman called her attention to unsafe and environmentally hazardous practices, a state representative is proposing a formal system for disposal of expired marine distress flares. It began with a simple question this past summer from Bob Perry, a Bailey Island lobsterman who was telling his sister over coffee one morning that he was not sure where he could dispose of old flares. The flares, which expire after 42 months, employ pyrotechnic chemicals and are classified as hazardous waste that cannot be buried in a landfill. “I was telling her, ‘I’ve got these flares, and I’ve got no idea what to do with them,’” Perry said last week. With the exception of smaller boats and specific recreational uses, existing law mandates that large vessels must be equipped with visual distress signals, most of which use pyrotechnic chemicals to emit a bright emergency flare, according to the Boater’s Guide to Maine Laws and Responsibilities. “I can’t be the only one on the coast of Maine that doesn’t know how to get rid of them,” he said. Read the story here 17:10
