New rule for boaters: No sewage in Sound

Boaters may not discharge sewage in Long Island Sound as of Thursday, when New York joins Connecticut in requiring them to use pump-out stations, federal and state officials announced Tuesday.

"We know that a swimmable, fishable . . . and boatable Long Island Sound is absolutely essential to the quality of life," and the economic well-being of the area, Rep. Tim Bishop, (D-Southampton) said at a news conference at the Sound's West Meadow Beach in Stony Brook.

The new federal regulation covers New York's 760 square miles of the Sound, taking in open waters, harbors, bays and navigable tributaries of the Sound and part of the East River from the Hell Gate Bridge in the west to the northern bounds of Block Island Sound in the east. A previously designated "no-discharge zone" covered a smaller area.

"It means, effective this Thursday, boaters can no longer discharge raw sewage into the Sound," said Judith Enck, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regional administrator for the area that includes New York. Sewage hurts water quality and has pathogens that pose a risk to people's health, the officials said.

Peter Scully, regional director of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said the no-discharge rule was "one more step" toward protecting the Sound, adding that contaminants from stormwater runoff remained an issue. The state DEC petitioned the EPA for the new rule; Connecticut's ban was enacted in 2007.

Enck said outreach to boaters about the new rule would begin soon. Scully said law enforcement, such as county police departments' marine bureaus, bay constables and harbor masters, would be notified as well. Violators face a $250 fine.

The rule "doesn't change anything for us," said captain Desmond O'Sullivan of Celtic Quest Inc., a party charter fishing company in Port Jefferson, where a previously enacted no-discharge zone in the harbor was in effect. "It's good to preserve the water quality and environment."

Chris Squeri, executive director of the New York Marine Trades Association, based in Amityville, agreed. "We've been supportive of no-discharge zones, as long as there are ample pump-out facilities" where boats can dispose of their sewage, Squeri said. "We swim and boat in these waters, fish in these waters, and want them to be as clean as possible."

Enck said there are 68 pump-out stations along the Sound. Many are free; some charge as little as $5.