A new pump-out station will be built at Barrington Yacht Club thanks to a grant from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

DEM announced this week that it was distributing nearly $50,000 in grants to help improve boat pump-out facilities across the state. Barrington Yacht Club received a $12,000 grant to replace an existing pump and fixed-base pump-out station.

The yacht club's old pump-out had been updated over the years.

Other grant recipients include Harbor Lights Marina in Warwick, the Town of Bristol's station, and Warwick Cove Marina. The grants are funded through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Clean Vessel Act (CVA). Since 1994, DEM has awarded more than $2 million in CVA grants.

“We are pleased to award these grants to marinas and coastal communities to improve pump-out infrastructure around the state,” said DEM Director Janet Coit. “Over the years, projects funded with pump-out grants have been instrumental in helping to reduce a major source of contamination to the state’s coastal waters, including the bacteria that can cause shellfish closures. Narragansett Bay is the lifeblood of Rhode Island, and each year tens of thousands of boaters venture out to enjoy the beauty, bounty, and tranquility of this precious natural resource.”

The grants require a 25 percent funding match. The grant also requires that funded facilities are available to all boaters. Grant recipients may not charge more than $5 per 25 gallons pumped.

DEM has, for years, worked with partners to reduce pollution into local waters, as boat sewage poses a significant threat to water quality by introducing bacteria and other pathogens that impact public health.

In 1998, Rhode Island became the first state in the nation to receive a statewide “no discharge” designation from the US Environmental Protection Agency that prohibits boaters from discharging sewage into local waterways.

There are currently 17 pump-out boats and 49 landside facilities located at 66 locations across Narragansett Bay and coastal waters.

Many existing facilities require repair and upgrades as they have exceeded their useful life expectancy since initial construction, stated a press release from DEM.

Approximately 40,000 boats are registered in Rhode Island, and the state welcomes many thousands more visiting boats each year. Last year, a total volume of over 600,000 gallons of sewage was pumped out at these locations and diverted from directly entering Rhode Island’s coastal waters. Visit DEM’s website for a map of marine pump-out facilities in Rhode Island.

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