State slashes Keys money for boat sewage pumpouts

A program that helps keep Florida Keys waters free of illegally discharged boat sewage cannot get flushed down the drain, an advocate says.

“We certainly do not want to lose this program,” Monroe County Commissioner George Neugent said. “We need to start work immediately to secure the funding.”

A state allocation of $500,000, matching last year’s state funding, to continue the free program for anchored liveaboards was cut to $277,650 in the newly approved Florida budget.

The projected cost for more than 2,700 boats in the Keys that use the pumpout program is nearly $700,000.

“That difference that we did not get is integral to our [pumpout] program as we know it today,” Neugent said Tuesday.

In a report prepared for state lawmakers, Monroe County officials wrote, “Without sufficient funding from the state, we cannot provide the same level of service and may compromise the purpose of the Keys-wide ‘proof of pumpout ordinance,’ which is authorized by state statute. The ordinance and the service are currently preventing over 300,000 [gallons] of sewage a year from going into the Keys marine ecosystem.”

The Florida Keys pumpout program was launched in 2013 “to protect the coral reef, sea grasses, and pristine waters from the discharge of both treated and untreated vessel sewage.”

It has been illegal to discharge marine waste in state waters around the Keys since waters 2002, but catching violators was not easy.

The pumpout program requires liveaboards not staying in marinas to show proof of regular sewage pumpouts, but the county provides a free pumpout service so cost is not a factor.

In 2017, the contractor, Pumpout USA, provided 21,202 pumpouts to boats along the Florida Keys.

This story was originally published March 20, 2018 at 4:43 PM with the headline "State slashes Keys money for boat sewage pumpouts."