State Orders Sewage Pump Stations for 4 Marinas in Newport Beach

A state water quality board Friday ordered four Newport Beach marinas to install sewage pump stations so that boaters can properly dispose of waste from on-board toilets instead of dumping it in the water.

The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board acted to prevent contamination of Newport Harbor by disease-causing bacteria before levels can become harmful, said Philip R. Maurer, a board member and a Newport Beach city councilman.

“The bay is even better now than it was five years ago,” Maurer said, rating the contamination level in the harbor at 2 on a scale of 10, with 10 the most hazardous.

“There is no danger. We just wanted to make sure that levels of contamination didn’t increase,” he said.

The board’s order complements an ordinance passed in June by the Newport Beach City Council, which required the heaviest commercial users of the bay to build their own sewage pump-out stations. Originally, about 14 marinas were to be targeted by the water quality board. But agency officials said the majority already have agreed to install them, said Edwin Liu, a biochemist and ecologist for the board, which oversees water quality issues in the most populous areas of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

“There are 6,000 boats in the bay,” said Liu, coordinator of Newport Bay issues for the board. “There are not enough pump-outs to serve those boats.”

“We’re going to make it too convenient for (boaters) not to comply,” he said, adding that there is no charge to empty on-board toilets.

To back up their efforts, Newport Beach officials have begun planning a massive $150,000 information campaign on the importance of maintaining good water quality, Maurer said. The council also is working on putting into effect stiffer penalties for boaters who are caught dumping sewage in the water.

In an effort to curb sewage dumping by boaters, a 1986 state law empowered regional boards to require marina owners to provide more places for boat owners to pump out their toilets.

Friday, the board ordered sewage pump outlets installed in Upper Newport Bay, at Newport Landing, at the turning basin and at the Newport and Rhine channels, Liu said.

The pump stations, from which sewage is hauled away for treatment, will cost an estimated $14,000 each to build, Maurer said. He said marinas probably will raise the cost of renting a slip to offset construction costs. All of the pump stations are expected to be in operation by April 1, 1989.