Guest Opinion: Marine Waters Need Protection Even in Recession

“Ignoring the problem will only make it worse.”

By Terry Whalen, Owner, A1 Marine Services

A1 Marine Services began raising and removing derelict vessels from the waters and beaches of San Juan County through the Derelict Vessel Program in 2004.

After that first boat, it took us about two years to actually get a signed contract with San Juan County. During that two year period we were still removing derelict vessels, but we were just doing it without a contract.

In December of 2008 San Juan County dropped the Derelict Vessel Program; however, just because the County has dropped the program, it does not mean the problem has gone away. The latest boat that was salvaged through the Derelict Vessel Program was just two weeks ago.

I have talked to a lot of people over the last few months about the Derelict Vessel Program but it seems to have just fallen on deaf ears. It is as though, if it’s not on a beach in front of their house they don’t care.  I have given it a lot of thought about why nobody seems to care about what happens to these derelict vessels and I am convinced that it is because people really don’t know what happens when on of these things go down.

They don’t see the environmental damage that occurs. So that’s why I am writing these letters; to show everyone why we have a Derelict Vessel program and why it is so important.

I understand budgets and I understand that we are in a recession. However the fact that we are in a recession does not relieve us of our responsibility to protect our marine environment and our marine habitats.

Here is a case in point: In August of this year a house boat broke anchor and washed up on the beach in shipyard cove. The owner removed it from the beach and tied it up to an illegal mooring that belonged to someone else. Then it began to sink, probably because of its time on the beach.

We notified the Coast Guard, DNR, and the county that the boat was in danger of sinking but we were never given permission to stop it from going down. Everyone knew who the owner was and I believe she was eventually notified but she chose to do nothing about it. It sat in shipyard cove for almost a month half submerged but nobody wanted to do anything about it.

Eventually it broke loose from the mooring and was carried out by the current into San Juan Channel and out through Cattle Pass. The current then carried it down to Eagle Cove on the south side. At this point the residenttse of Eagle Cove complained that it can’t be left to sink here, this is whale habitat.

So a month after it began to sink we were given permission to retrieve it. But by the time we got there it was gone. The next day we received a call saying it was in front of the Lime Kiln light house. But once again by the time we got there it was nowhere in sight. At this point the Coast Guard put a helicopter in the air and located it. It was now close to Victoria in Canadian waters and the last notice that we were given was that its Canada’s problem now. Personally, I feel that whole fiasco was wrong on many levels.

The damage caused by these boats sinking can be widespread. We have removed as much as 200 gallons of fuel and oil off of a single boat after it sank.  They tend to sink in shallow coves, damaging fragile eco-systems and covering the beaches in garbage.

I truly believe that we need to find a way to stop these boats from sinking and not just clean up the mess after the fact. It took approximately $120,000 to clean up after the sinking of the Fish Hawk in Hunter Bay.  In the last thirteen months DNR has spent approximately $170,000 in San Juan County removing these boats.

If we can’t afford to stop this from happening, how can we afford to clean up the mess after it does happen? If we had not caught the last boat two weeks ago, before it rolled over and broke up, the clean up would have again cost well over $100,000 and it would have coated the entire Provost area with garbage fuel and oil. This would have brought the clean-up cost up to around $250,000 in thirteen months.

Since San Juan County has dropped the Derelict Vessel Program we no longer have the ability to identify and remove derelict vessels before they sink. We at A1 Marine do not have the authority to stop a vessel from sinking and then charge the owner for our services. Once we touch the boat without this authority it becomes our liability. We have done this in the past, in fact we did this just last November at the request of the Port but we could very easily get stuck with the bill.

The boats [I mention] follow a common path. They were ether given to the current owners or sold to the current owner for very little money. The new owners have big dreams about fixing them up, but then the reality of how much labor and money it takes sets in. Then the vessels are abandoned and the owners take no responsibility for the damage that results from their careless actions….In the last five years we have remove over fifty of these Vessels and Floats. I believe we have made San Juan County a better place to live for both the people and the marine animals.

The bottom line is that we need help and we need to find a better way to deal with these derelict vessels. Ignoring the problem will only make it worse. A large part of the money spent to date by DNR and San Juan County has been to clean up many years worth of neglect. Letting these derelict boats accumulate again would be a tragedy.

(Terry Whalen will be speaking at the Marine Resources Committee on Wednedsday, Feb. 17 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Islanders Bank in Friday Harbor.)