Pumpout service proposal fizzles away quietly

NEWPORT BEACH — A one-year pilot program offering discounted sewage pumpout services for local boaters will not be happening anytime soon as the Newport Beach Harbor Commission decided against recommending the proposal to the City Council. Commissioners had been studying the one-year discounted sewage pumpout service for portions of this year but finally decided against a program recommendation at the Sept. 15 Harbor Commission meeting. Harbor Resources Department staff campaigned for the pumpout services in hopes of discouraging illegal discharge, improving the lower bay’s water quality and, potentially, prolonging the life of existing stations. City officials also hope the service would promote boaters to use moorings in Newport Harbor. However a sticking point was whether the discounted pumpout service would also be available to anchorage visitors who do not use Newport Beach’s moorings. At least one City Council member, during a study session in July, had expressed reservations about offering the service at no cost to boaters. The pilot program proposed making the discounted pumpout service available to mooring permittees three times per month. Boaters would not have been permitted to use the service for freshwater flushes, head repairs or unclogs. The city would have been prohibited from boarding vessels to perform pumpout services; instead a...