Boating pumpout facilities on Long Island Sound and Connecticut’s largest lake pumped a record 1.28 million gallons of sewage in 2016, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced Thursday.
That was up from 1.17 million gallons in 2015 and 993,645 gallons in 2014.
DEEP supports pumpout facilities on the sound and Candlewood Lake with more than $1 million annually. The money comes from a state trust fund supported by excise taxes on boating and fishing equipment and fuel. The agency also receives federal matching grants.
Facilities owners must contribute 25 percent of the cost of operating or building sewage pumpouts.
This year, DEEP expects to distribute $1.2 million to 47 marine facilities in the state. The largest amount, $255,000, is slated for the East Shore District Health Department, covering Branford, North Branford and East Haven, to operate and maintain two existing pumpout vessels and buy a new solar-electric pumpout vessel, DEEP said.
