Anyone boating in the Stonington/Mystic area during the summer knows just how congested the waters can become. And while the traffic isn’t a major concern per se, where the waste many of these boats produce goes is a huge concern. That’s where Coastal Environmental Services Inc. (CES) comes into play.
CES, a nonprofit public charity, was established in November 2007 by local resident Constantine Macris, along with his brother, Harrison, father, Athos, and friend, Mike Aretakis, with the express purpose of providing better and more consistent free pump-out services to the Stonington, Mystic, Groton, and New London areas.
“We’ve actually been getting a lot of interest as of late on the whole program and how it’s running, and it’s really taken off more than I ever imagined,” Macris said. “There’s more interest in it now than there ever has been before, which is great because on the fund-raising side of things it’s very easy for us just to say we’re a community program, a public charity...But it’s good that there is interest and we’re able to grow much more quickly than before, which means the water is a lot cleaner than before, which is good for everyone from the Stonington Borough to Groton Long Point and out to Fishers Island.”
Macris explained that until this year, he had run the town of Groton’s pump-out boat, which solely covered the Mystic River for the last six or seven years. But Macris, realizing the need to expand, met with Groton town and state officials and decided it would be in the best interest of everyone to form a nonprofit organization to take control of the free pump-out program. From there, CES was born.
Working off a state grant and fund-raising efforts, CES now commands three boats, which cover a much larger area and provide service to more boats than before—something Macris said is crucial, as he estimated CES averages around 2,500 gallons of pump-out per weekend in the Mystic River alone. The three boats now run in the Stonington Borough Harbor Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; in the Mystic River on Thursdays through Tuesdays between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.; and in the Thames River Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., June through November.
Macris explained that it is only through local support that CES has been able to grow, as 25 percent of the operating costs of the three boats is not covered by the state grant, and thus must be made up through fund-raising and donations. That means that every year around $70,000 needs to be raised; $20,000 has been raised thus far this year.
“We’re always hoping that people will become more involved,” Macris said. “We’re starting up a boater’s council, and we want a couple people from each marina to sit on it, probably quarterly, and give us input on how the service is, help us decide on coverage areas, hours, direction, [and]…to help us decide what’s working and what’s not working. We also have some openings on the board of directors, so people who are very interested in the program and want to help it succeed are welcome to apply. We also accept any sort of donation of time, gifts of kind, or monetary donations. So there are a lot of ways people can help.”
For more information or to learn how to help, visit www.cespumpout.org or contact CES at 860-514-7664.