Bay Area’s First Clean Marine Boatyard

Keefe Kaplan Maritime, Inc (KKMI) boatyard in Pt Richmond, California was recently awarded a Clean Marine certification by the Clean Marine Program. This makes KKMI Pt Richmond the first Bay Area boatyard to receive this prestigious award. The certification process involves evaluation of over 150 requirements regarding company practices related to Emergencies, Fire Safety, Solid and Liquid Wastes, Hazardous Waste, Engine Maintenance/Repair, Painting, Storm Water Management, Landscaping for Storm Water, Used Petroleum Products, Used Antifreeze Waste, Soiled Rags, Battery Management, Refrigerants, Mercury Lamps/Bilge Switches, Boat Cleaning, Pressure Washing, Paint Removal, Sand Blasting, and Facility & Housekeeping.

The Clean Marine Program developed the certification program through an examination of many Best Management Practices (BMPs) in partnership with many stakeholders. This included groups such as the California Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Toxic Substances and their office of Pollution Prevention and Green Technology, California Coastal Commission, California Department of Boating and Waterways, California Department of Pesticides, City of San Francisco Health Department and San Francisco BayKeeper.

KKMI Pt Richmond has been providing boat maintenance and repair services on San Francisco Bay since 1996. Company founders Paul Kaplan, Ken Keefe and Cynthia Revel have consistently held strong safety and environmental practices as a benchmark not only for operational success, but also toward protecting their employees and the sensitive Bay environment. Paul Kaplan commented, “Since our founding nearly 25 years ago we have become recognized as leaders within the maritime industry in delivering superb craftsmanship in an environmentally friendly facility. From being named ‘Boat Yard of the Year’ by the American Boat Builder’s Association to ‘Small Industry of the Year’ by the California Water Environment Association and now ‘Clean Marine Certification,’ we are very proud of these accomplishments.”

KKMI’s Safety, Health and Environmental Director, Janis Johnson, was responsible for coordinating with Clean Marine and its certification judges who evaluated KKMI’s practices and toured the yard. She said, “The process of obtaining certification, although time-consuming, represents so many things. Not only does it demonstrate KKMI’s compliance with the myriad of regulations that govern the maritime industry, but it also speaks to KKMI’s commitment in taking additional steps to achieve the highest level of sound, environmentally friendly operations. Receiving one of the highest scores is a powerful testimony to the level of dedication that exists within our company and team members. We are very pleased with this accomplishment.”

KKMI has long supported the Clean Marine Certification Program and is proud to be recognized for management’s efforts to operate an environmentally sound boatyard business. KKMI management hopes that this industry recognition will inspire other boatyards in the Bay Area and beyond to apply for their own Clean Marine Certification.

For more information on the Clean Marine Program visit https://cleanmarina.org/.