BOATER EDUCATION PROGRAM
In order to encourage boaters from discharging their waste overboard, the boater educational program in the Hampton Roads area and Smith Mountain Lake are conducted each summer. College students majoring in an environmental health curriculum are hired to visit marinas and offer free pumpout service to boaters. The Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) staffs in the Tidewater area and Ferrum College staff in the Smith Mountain Lake area supervise the students. While pumping out the boat, the students provide boaters with educational materials describing the proper methods of sanitary waste disposal and how such illegal dumping can harm the aquatic environment. The students and Health Department staff also participate in a number of boat shows around Virginia each year, maintaining a booth at each location, where program and water quality protection information is distributed to boaters.