Ban on Dumping Sewage from Boats Into Cayuga and Seneca Lakes and Seneca River

(New York, N.Y. – September 9, 2015) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation today announced that Seneca Lake, Cayuga Lake and the Seneca River are now \”no discharge zones,\” which means that boats are completely banned from discharging sewage into the water. 

The EPA reviewed DEC’s proposal to establish no discharge zones for these water bodies and determined that there are adequate facilities in the area for boats to pump out their sewage. Boaters must now dispose of their sewage at specially-designated pump-out stations around Lakes Cayuga and Seneca. This action is part of a joint EPA and New York State strategy to eliminate the discharge of sewage from boats into the state’s waterways.