Keeping Ocean County Waterways Clean

The Ocean County Pumpout Boat program, a popular program with boaters on Barnegat Bay and Little Egg Harbor Bay, turned 25 this year. The program partners including the captains were recently honored during a 25th Anniversary event at the Seaside Park Yacht Club. Since its inception, the program has removed more than 2.4 million gallons of effluent from the holding tanks and portable toilets of more than 112,470 boats using Barnegat Bay and its tributaries. “This program has been in the forefront of keeping our bay waters clean. It has been a big benefit to our sensitive environment,” said Director of the Ocean County Board of Commissioners Joseph H. Vicari, liaison to the program. “This program also highlights the benefits of partnerships.” The Board of Commissioners with the Ocean County Utilities Authority, Brick Township, Seaside Park, the Tuckerton Seaport, the boat captains and the Clean Vessel Act program work hand in hand to provide a program that keeps the bay waters clean. “Working together is what makes this program so successful,” Vicari said. “As a team, we have made significant strides in preserving and protecting the Barnegat Bay.” The pump out boat program got its start in the mid 1990’s when the State of New Jersey decided to participate in the federal Clean Vessel Act Program. There are now six full-time pumpout boats operating in the Barnegat Bay and Little Egg Harbor. The fleet includes the Bay Saver and Bay Defender, operated by Brick; the Pollution Solution, Water Warrior, operated by Seaside Park; and the Waste Watcher II and the Bay Sweeper, operated by the Tuckerton Seaport. Ocean County’s pumpout boats are all about 21-foot long vessels that are specially equipped to be capable of emptying the on-board toilets and tanks of other boats, thus keeping waste from entering the bay. The six boats cover different areas of the bay throughout Ocean County.