New boat pump station could help keep human waste off Parlee Beach

One of the provincial government's solutions to pollution at Parlee Beach and the surrounding waters will be installed by the end of the week — a sewage pumping station for boats.

The pump it replaces was only used 40 times this season — down from the 46 times in 2016 — although hundreds of boats passed through Shediac Bay.

The wharf's manager says the old pump broke down multiple times during the season, and he hopes a fresh station will encourage boaters to respect their environment.

"Instead of taking say, 10, 12 minutes to pump out your boat it will take two minutes," said Victor Cormier, general manager of the Pointe-du-Chêne wharf. 

"So for the boaters it's less time — they come in, gas up a couple of minutes, they get their boats pumped out, and they're gone, back enjoying their summer."

The project is one of 19 that will use $3 million from government to address contamination at Parlee Beach. An identical pump is being installed at the Shediac Marina.

Polluting to save time

The $25,000 station will replace a 10-year-old one at the Pointe-du-Chêne wharf, where the government hopes it will inspire boaters to pump out their sewage from on-board bathrooms instead of dumping it overboard.

Officials have previously identified waste from leisure boats as one possible cause of the fecal contamination at Parlee Beach. 

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Cormier said boaters may be skipping trips to the pump so they can spend more time on the water.

"For the most part, the boaters, it's a nice sunny day and they want to go boating," he said. "They come in for gas and they don't want to waste any boating time, so if it takes 10, 12, 15 minutes it's taking away from their boating time."

The new station, however, is more powerful than the old one it is replacing. Cormier said it will drain a septic tank in two minutes.

Cormier also noted that not all boats have toilets, and most boaters are trying to keep the water clean.

"Let's say there's 300, 400 boats in the greater Shediac area," he said. "There might be maybe 40 or 50 of them that have toilets inside of them. So you can't label that these 400 boats are just dumping out in the ocean."

Protecting the waters

Tim Borlase is the president of the Red Dot Association of Shediac Bay, a group that is looking to drive down the bacteria levels in the waters around Parlee Beach.

He said he hopes a new, free pump-out system will discourage boaters from dumping in water often used by swimmers.

"It's welcome news to people that are swimming nearby," Borlase said. "I often get emails about finding toilet paper and what appears to be fecal contamination on the beach. Hopefully, this has an impact on the beach."

He said, however, the key to its success will be getting boaters to actually use the station. Forty stops in 2017 is a worrisome number, he said.

"I'm surprised. I thought that the Department of Environment was making a special effort to educate people who were boaters."

Educating boaters

A representative for the Department of Environment and Local Government said by email the spending needs to be accompanied by awareness from boaters.

"Hundreds of boats enjoy the bay each weekend during the summer, so we definitely need to have more boaters use the pump-out stations," the email read. "In order for this to happen, we need the help of both boaters and the community so we ask everyone to join us in raising awareness that dumping waste directly into the Shediac Bay is not responsible boating.

"We know that the two yacht clubs have been reaching out to their members to help spread the word but everyone can spread the word too. We will also continue our education work in this regard."