Montauk Would Cleanse Harbor
Marine heads will have to be sealed on all boats in Montauk Harbor if East Hampton Town is successful at establishing a Federally sanctioned no-discharge zone there.
Town Councilwoman Nancy McCaffrey and Larry Penny, director of natural resources, agreed they would discuss Federal designation during the Town Board's first work session of the new year, Jan. 7.
The effort to obtain the designation was approved last Thursday by representatives of Montauk commercial fishing and members of the Montauk Harbor Association, a group of business owners. The goal is to improve water quality.
Several years of study and negotiation had gone on behind the scenes, which led to an easy conclusion at last week's meeting at the Montauk Coast Guard Station. The project began shortly after a contentious meeting in 1992 at which the banning of all discharges into the harbor was first broached.
Runoff Problems
As part of the study, the Town Natural Resources Department identified the sites where pollution enters the lake and listed them in order of their harmful contributions and according to the ease with which they could be fixed.
Mr. Penny said this week that the quality of the lake's waters around the marinas has improved somewhat in recent years, in part because boaters and marina owners have made an effort to be more environmentally conscious. However, the problem of contamination from road runoff has not improved, he said.
The town has received a grant to treat water from culverts draining into the lake and is applying for more funds to treat road runoff, he noted. Land acquisitions around the lake have also figured into the plan to reduce runoff.
Mr. Penny recommended to the Harbor Association that it meet again with town officials before a formal vote by the Town Board is taken. Left to be settled is the exact boundaries of the no-discharge zone.
Drawing The Line
A town harbormaster, Ed Michels, has recommended that the northerly line be drawn at Star Island so that boaters unable to store their wastes or have them pumped out could find temporary berth at a marina north of Star Island, and not have to leave the harbor to discharge them.
The exit valve from heads must be wired or otherwise shut in a way that is readily visible to authorities. He said that while 75 percent of recreational boats had the ability to seal their systems, many commercial fishing boats did not, although, unlike recreational boaters, commercial fishermen generally did not live on their vessels when in port. Because of their size, all of them lie in the north end of the lake.
If Huntington Harbor and the harbor on Block Island, where no-discharge zones already are in place, are any indication of what will happen here, "you won't lose any business because of a no-discharge zone," Mr. Michels said. Both have continued to be extremely busy.
No Gestapo Tactics
Wherever the line is drawn, boaters eventually will be informed on navigation charts and in publications such as the Notice to Mariners and Coast Pilot. Bill Taylor, the town's senior harbormaster, stressed that while marine police would have the authority to board vessels in order to enforce the no-discharge rule, compliance would be sought through education rather than "Gestapo" tactics.
"There will be no lining up of boats, no chains across the harbor mouth," he said. He also noted that boats anchored over private bottomland in the harbor would be subject to the same rules.
No-discharge zones are created under the Federal Clean Water Act and are approved by the State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The reluctance with which boaters and marina operators first greeted the no-discharge concept stemmed from the claim that high coliform bacteria levels emanated from boat toilets. The state opens and closes shellfish beds according to the level of coliforms in the water.
Pumpout Stations
Surveys taken by the Natural Resources Department have shown, however, that road runoff and leaching from septic systems contribute considerably to the overall coliform levels. All agreed that contributions from boats had been reduced, in part, by an educational campaign undertaken by the Harbor Association in cooperation with the Concerned Citizens of Montauk.
One station for pumping sewage from marine toilets is operated in the harbor by the town. Three others are at private marinas. The pumpout stations are credited with stemming boat pollution. Pumpout stations are a prerequisite for no-discharge zone designation. Block Island also operates a pumpout boat, which brings the equipment to the vessel in need. Its services are available without charge to those boats that tie up at town-maintained moorings.
It was recalled at last week's meeting that one cause for reluctance four years ago was an apparent effort by town planners to create a zero-discharge zone in the lake, one that not only banned the disposal of treated sewage, but of "gray water," that is, shower and dishwater. Zero-discharge apparently is now considered of less importance.
Entry Points
Rameshwar Das, who served as chairman of the committee that wrote the Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan for the town, said that the no-discharge zone should be seen as part of an overall plan to improve water quality.
Mr. Penny presented the findings of a two-year survey of the Lake Montauk shoreline on a map showing sites where coliform-contaminated water enters the lake via culverts or streams.
Beginning on the northeast side of the lake and moving clockwise, the sites include a stream near Gin Beach, the culvert at Little Reed Pond, a stream at Star Top Ranch, and a culvert at Duffy's Cottages, a spring directly to the south of Duffy's, and East Lake Creek.
The Ditch Plain area drains into the Oceanside culvert near the Crow's Nest Restaurant at the south end of the lake. On the west side of the lake, a stream by a stone wall is identified, as is the stream at Stepping Stones, a culvert that flows from Montauk Downs Golf Course, runoff at Peter's Run near Gloucester Street, three culverts at West Hill across from Star Island, and one at Captain's Cove Marina. A culvert at the Montauk Marine Basin completes the circle.
Priority Spots
The Montauk Marine Basin, East Lake Creek, and Peter's Run were each given highest priority for cleanup, based on their contributions of coliform bacteria, although Mr. Penny recommended further study of the Little Reed Pond site because of its importance to baymen. The repair and raising of a culvert there has been criticized as detrimental to the migration of alewives and baitfish into the pond's freshwater. Mr. Penny said the town was studying ways to remedy the situation.
Mr. Penny also suggested that a secondary list be prioritized based on the ease of the fix; the easiest work would be done first.
Among the ways of reducing coliform bacteria, Mr. Penny said, was building dams on wetlands that drain into the lake. Wetlands could be purchased by the town and dammed to slow the progress of runoff so that natural processes could neutralize the bacteria. A few of the properties are already listed on the town's open space wish list.
The construction of catch basins could slow the flow in from sites such as the culvert at the Montauk Marine Basin. Mr. Penny agreed with Mr. Das and Councilwoman McCaffrey that a number of grants were available to help defray the cost.