Contamination occurs when commercial divers clean boat hulls painted with soft paints in the water.
Cleaning the vessels while they're still in the water can pollute lakes, rivers and marine waters with toxic substances such as metals, grease and oil. One metal of concern is copper, which is toxic to aquatic life and interferes with a fish's ability to take in oxygen. In-water hull cleaning is just one more pollution problem that threatens the life of endangered salmon, said Tom Fitzsimmons, Ecology's director. We expect boat and marina owners, along with commercial divers, to ensure that vessels painted with soft paints are taken out of the water for cleaning - not scraped and cleaned in the water. Fitzsimmons explained Ecology hopes for voluntary compliance.