Alameda County, Delta Diablo, and the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) have partnered with CalRecycle, California State Parks and Coastal Commission’s California Boating Clean and Green Program, and BoatUS Foundation to collect expired marine flares and educate residents about marine flare management safety, including the advantages of reusable distress signals, to protect Bay Area communities and local environment.
On Sunday, November 14th, recreational boaters from Alameda County and East Contra Costa can take expired marine flares to the collection events at their local Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) facility during special events only. Only expired marine flares from residential boaters will be accepted, not from commercial craft or an organization and no other HHW materials will be accepted during the special event. Alameda County boaters can make an appointment at www.stopwaste.org/marineflares and East Contra Costa boaters can show up during event hours.
In the absence of safe disposal options locally, the partners encourage resident boaters to consider an electronic visual distress signal device (eVDSD) as a reusable distress signal alternative to the single-use pyrotechnic marine flare. The United States Coast Guard (USGC) requires boaters to carry several unexpired visual distress signals on board, day and night. Pyrotechnic marine flares are a common type of distress signal, but they are explosive hazardous waste and contain toxic chemicals, like perchlorate, that pose human health risks. Marine flares only work once and expire 42 months after the manufacture date.
For safety and environmental reasons, it is essential to manage single-use pyrotechnic marine flares carefully. Residents should never throw flares overboard into the environment or out in household trash. However, Bay Area resident boaters do not have access to an ongoing expired marine flare disposal program, and recreational vessels generate about 174,000 pyrotechnic marine flares every year, estimated in 2012 according to the California Expired Marina Flare Working Group.
As added incentive to keep local communities and the environment safe, qualified Bay Area residents are eligible for a FREE, USGC-approved eVDSD for day and night, by Sirius Signal, and a FREE CA Boaters Kit. This device is available at the event only to residents of East Contra Costa County (Antioch, Bay Point, Bethel Island, Brentwood, Byron, Discovery Bay, Knightsen, Oakley, and Pittsburg) and Alameda County only, while supplies last, through November 14th. A discount on the eVDSD device is available to residents after the supply of free devices runs out.
The coalition behind these events urge residents to stay alert for future temporary collection events and consider switching to reusable eVDSD. To learn more about eVDSDs from the vendor, watch the Sirius Signal eVDSD demonstration video at https://bit.ly/eVDSDdemo.