North Hempstead installs new sewage pump-out station for boaters in Port Washington

The Town of North Hempstead has installed a new pump-out station at its dock in Port Washington, replacing an older unit, and officials say they want to add more to town docks and parks.

Boaters use the stations to empty waste from bathrooms on boats. Officials said boaters can easily access this station, affixed to the dock at Manhasset Bay. The goal is to prevent them from dumping sewage into Long Island Sound, a practice banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2011.

Andrew DeMartin, the town's public safety commissioner, said the new unit aligns with the ban.

"It makes it more convenient to boaters to have all these different ways to empty your boat, so you wouldn't be tempted to dump into the Sound," DeMartin said.

This is the town's only working pump-out station, DeMartin said. The town also maintains two pump-out boats, one of which was purchased last year. They travel to vessels in Manhasset Bay and Hempstead Harbor, and boaters can hail one through radio calls, leaving a voice mail or sending an email to the town.

The town has pumped 100,000 gallons of waste from 1,300 boats so far in 2014, officials said. The new station is built to resist saltwater better than the previous one that was about a decade old, DeMartin said.

The new unit, including installation, cost $13,445. The town is reimbursed about $10,000 of that -- or 75 percent of the project -- by the state Environmental Facilities Corporation's Clean Vessel Assistance Program.

Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said she wants more pump-out units in the town. Officials said plans call for two more stationary units at Manorhaven Beach Park and North Hempstead Beach Park in Port Washington, which also have been allocated grant funds.