Water regulators push to add pump stations

Paul Clinton

Water quality regulators have unveiled a plan to install almost a

dozen sewage pump-out stations in Huntington Harbour and Newport

Harbor to discourage boats from unloading their septic tanks into the

water.

The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board introduced the

idea on Friday partly in response to a local environmentalist’s

claims that boaters have been causing pollution in both harbors.

“Based on our survey, we are proposing that additional pump-outs

are needed,” said Hope Smythe, the board’s chief of planning for

inland waters.

The board introduced the proposal, but postponed a decision until

its Aug. 22 meeting. If approved, the proposal must also pass muster

with the state water board.

Garry Brown, executive director of Orange County CoastKeeper, has

been lobbying the board to install the additional pump stations.

A survey conducted by Brown turned up a network of pumps that are

used by boaters to deposit their sewage, which are inadequate and in

need of repair, Brown wrote in an Oct. 4, 2002, letter to the board.

“We cannot expect the boating public [to] ‘do the right thing’ if

the proper sewage disposal facilities are inconvenient, inoperable,

difficult to operate and inaccessible,” Brown wrote in the letter.

Brown himself owns a boat in Huntington Harbour.

Newport Beach also supports the board’s proposal to add seven new

pump stations in Newport Harbor, Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff

said.

“You’re going to have more pump stations that are more visible

than we have today,” Kiff said. “We don’t want people using the

excuse that it’s not working.”

There are about 10,000 boats docked in Newport Harbor now, Kiff

said. State regulations require a 500-1 ratio of boats to pump

stations.

There are now 11 pump stations in Newport Harbor. Under those

guidelines, Newport Harbor is only equipped to accommodate 5,500

boats.

Huntington Harbour has four pump stations to serve about 3,500

boats anchored there. Regulators propose four more stations in

Huntington Harbour.

Marina operators will be responsible for installing the new pump

stations, Smythe said. Some federal grant money, however, could be

made available to help defray the cost.

The board lists nine marina owners in Huntington Beach, including

Peter’s Landing Marina, Sunset Aquatic Marina, Huntington Marina and

Davenport Marina.

Scott Seaton, the general manager at Peter’s Landing, said he

supports the move.

A new pump could cost $40,000, he said. Private operators are

eligible for a 75% rebate of that cost, while public pump operators

can recoup 100% of the cost, Seaton said.

“It’s a good thing,” Seaton said. “The marinas are required to

have them.”