Summer On The LI Sound? Health Dept. Hiring Pump-Out Boat Operators

BRANFORD, CT — Looking for an opportunity to spend your summer on the Long Island Sound coastline while protecting our coastal waters? The East Shore District Health Department is looking to hire vessel pump-out operators for the 2024 boating season, which starts on May 1, 2024, and runs through October 30, 2024.

The ESDHD offers a flexible work schedule and competitive wages starting at $18 per hour, depending on experience.

Since 2000, ESDHD has administered the Shoreline Regional Pump Out service in collaboration with the state, towns, and business partners, which pumps out sewage from any recreational boats free of charge. Since its inception, the program has diverted roughly half a million gallons of vessel sewage from being dumped into the Long Island Sound.

The program is a partnership between ESDHD, the town of Branford, the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, and the communities of East Haven, Guilford, West Haven, and New Haven. It covers 92,240 acres of shellfish and sea farming/kelp beds along the shoreline.

The ESDHD operates two pump-out boats: a traditional aluminum boat, and the ‘Solar Shark’, the world’s first full-size solar-electric pump-out boat, for which ESDHD and communities have been nationally recognized for its creation.

The Regional Pump-Out Boat program runs Friday through Monday from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. throughout the boating season. Boaters can contact the pump-out boat by calling the service at (203) 430-9305 or VHF Channel 9. Vessel pump-outs can also be scheduled for the entire boating season.

To apply, send a letter of interest and resume to shorelineregionalpumpoutboat@gmail.com.

For more information on the Shoreline Regional Pump-Out Boat program and the other community services provided, visit www.esdhd.org.