PROVIDENCE – Ten projects across Rhode Island will receive a total of $178,849 in grants to invest in boat pump-out facilities, the R.I. Department of Environmental Management announced Friday.
Pump-out boats and on-shore pump-out stations offer a convenient way for boaters to properly dispose of boat sewage, which poses a significant threat to public health by introducing bacteria, toxic chemicals and other pathogens into the water that can harm fish and other marine life. Rhode Island was the first state in the nation to receive a statewide “no discharge” designation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1998, which prohibits boats from discharging sewage into local waterways.
The grants, funded under the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Clean Vessel Act (CVA), will support ten projects in nine communities:
- Town of New Shoreham, Old Harbor, Block Island: $56,250 to purchase a new 19 foot pump-out boat
- Town of Bristol, Bristol Harbor, Mount Hope Bay, Kickemuit River: $21,965 to perform pump-out boat rehabilitation and replace fuel tank
- Town of Middletown, East Passage, Third Beach Mooring Area: $20,688 to replace engine on harbor master/pump-out boat
- Malabar Holdings, East Middle Bay, Portsmouth: $17,355 to replace fixed-based pump-out station
- Avondale Boat Yard, Pawcatuck River, Westerly: $15,971 to repair/replace an existing fixed-based pump-out station
- Bowen’s Wharf Marina, East Passage, Newport: $15,000 to repair, replace and maintain equipment on existing fixed-based pump-out station
- Town of Jamestown, East and West Ferry: $2,160 to purchase replacement parts and perform maintenance on fixed-based pump-out station; $9,375 to relocate existing East Ferry pump-out facility due to reconfiguration of wharf and parking lot
- Town of North Kingstown, Allen Harbor: $10,710 to install a new fixed-based pump-out system to replace existing system
- Town of Warren, Warren River, Town Wharf: $9,375 to replace fixed-based pump-out station
There are currently 15 pump-out boats and 52 land-side facilities across the state, servicing more than 40,000 boats registered in Rhode Island, in addition to many visiting boats.
The DEM has awarded more than $2 million in CVA grants since 1994.
Nicole Dotzenrod is a PBN staff writer. You can reach her by email at research@pbn.com or follow her on Twitter.
