LITTLE COMPTON — The Sakonnet Point Club has been slapped with a $33,750 state fine for allegedly building an outfall pipe for a desalination system 7.5 feet underwater while maintaining it was 23 feet below sea level.

The state Department of Environmental Management, in a notice dated March 20, accused the new marina of violating the discharge permit it had been issued for the desalination system. DEM sent a similar notice to the builder of the outfall pipe, Reagan Construction Corp., of Middletown, which faces a fine of $6,250.

Among the violations of the permit conditions are several “Type 1” infractions that DEM deems its most serious. These include failing to discharge wastewater at authorized depth and failing to provide “complete and accurate information.”

Both the club and its contractor have 20 days, or until April 10, to request an administrative hearing with DEM to contest the charges and the fine.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) blew the whistle on the club last September after the nonprofit group had a diver inspect the outfall pipe and diffuser, which dumps effluent from a system that removes salt from well water.

The Washington, D.C., environmental group says the outfall is situated near a lobster nursery and that without adequate dilution the habitat could be threatened by high levels of salt as well arsenic, copper, and nickel from the water well.

“While we are pleased that DEM has finally taken action, even a $40,000 fine is a slap on the wrist for a yacht club,” stated New England PEER director Kyla Bennett.

“These were deliberate, knowing pollution violations meriting criminal prosecution,” she said.

“The club should also have its permit revoked,” Bennett added. “Given the history of false statements, DEM should not reissue any permit until there is independent validation — at the applicant’s expense — that the outfall is reinstalled properly.”

Yesterday, Earl “Trip” Samson, the club’s president, said that the club would fight the charges and the fine. Meanwhile, DEM has already approved a new location for the diffuser, about 60 feet farther offshore than the old site, and in substantially deeper water.

“We’ve moved it to the new location. It is not operating yet,” he said.

The system, which will provide water for drinking and other uses, cannot be operated until the club receives an occupancy permit from the state Department of Health.

“Everything is ready to go. The club manager is there. The chef is there. The bartender is hired,” he said.

“We are told we are within a couple of weeks of getting the Department of Health sign-off.”

Samson said the club will vigorously fight the fine. The outfall pipe was only used several times to test it, he said.

“We didn’t put diesel fuel into the ocean or gasoline into the ocean. We put ocean into the ocean,” he said.

“We didn’t pollute anything. All that was done is our contractor turned on the equipment in the process of installing it to make sure it worked. The club was not out trying to do something terrible and get away with it.

“We will not take it sitting down. We are pretty outraged,” Samson said.

The opening of the club, he said, will not be affected by the violation notice.

The club, a decade in the development, features a marina, restaurant, bar, and pool and fitness center and has more than 260 member families.

rsalit@projo.com