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Long Island Sound Is Now A Poop-Free Zone: Gothamist on Astini News

Swimmers, breathe easy: the Long Island Sound is now officially a "no-discharge zone," meaning you can practice your backstroke in pristine, poop-free waters. The Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday that all 760 square miles of the Sound are off-limits to boats looking to dispose of their waste, a move officials are hailing as "long overdue."

"Clean water is one of New York's most valuable assets, and pumping sewage from boats into local waters is a practice that is both harmful and completely unnecessary," said EPA spokeswoman Judith Enck, adding that "A lot of the sewage is discharged close to where people swim." The ban, which goes into effect on Thursday, will require boats to to take their (mostly human) waste and discharge it at government-run or privately operate "pump-out" stations along the coast.

"We swim and fish in these waters, so we want to keep the water quality good," said Chris Squeri, executive director of the New York Marine Trades Association. People need to be able to keep fishing with used condoms in our city's waterways! Now, if only they could do something about those poopy rivers, too.

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