With funds available under that legislation, Bertocci built a 21 foot power boat with 300 gallons waste capacity, enough to pump out about 20 boats.  Using this facility, he began to  provide a convenient service - a telephone call and it's done: the boat doesn't have to be moved nor the owner present.  As of the end of the boating season last fall, the number of his regular users was approaching 200. In the legislation, however, Congress included the caveat that a maximum of $5 per vessel could be charged, per pumpout, regardless of the bilge tank or boat size.  The result is that Bertocci's program has become a permanent money drainer for his non-for-profit organization.

The same economic disincentive lessens local marinas' interest in signing up under the federal program.  Even though it offers them 75% of the cost of installing pumpout facilities, their costs also tend to exceed the $5 a boat limit.  While 10 of the Bay's marinas have municipal waste treatment service, four are rural and septic based.  In these cases, wastes, including marine treatment chemicals, have to be transported off-site, further raising costs.

Nonetheless, Bertocci is determined to shift responsibility to the marinas. Among the seven of them to sign up so far, at some level of cooperation, Paul's Marina in Brunswick has come up with a promising solution to the dilemma: a unique self-service pump-out dock with 500 gallon capacity that is moored offshore and easily accessible.  Last season a growing number of customers used this voluntary convenience, and the marina could afford to tow the barge ashore once a week and get it pumped out by a septic waste truck.