Disposing of large, derelict vessels abandoned in Petersburg’s harbors comes at a cost.
The borough assembly has authorized the transfer of $240,000 from the harbor department reserves to the derelict boat disposal budget category to pay for disposal of two large derelict boats.
The assembly also amended the code to make clear that boat owners are responsible for disposal costs.
“It’s incredibly expensive,” Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said at the Aug. 19 assembly meeting. “Literally, to take two boats apart and scrap them and handle any hazmat materials, the estimate was just under $250,000.”
A boat is deemed derelict when its owner stops paying moorage fees and essentially abandons the vessel.
“The underside of a boat is constantly under attack and you have to take care of it, otherwise it will sink,” Harbormaster Glo Wollen said in June. “I’m getting to the point where I can’t kick this can any further. … I have a couple of vessels that are structurally unsound and I need to get them out.”
Wollen described the problem as an issue of “moorage versus storage,” adding, “that’s not what these harbors were built for — they were built for moorage.”
Disposal of derelict vessels includes removing hazardous materials, dismantling the boats and cutting them into manageable pieces, then transporting the debris to approved disposal sites.
However, for the larger vessels, “our issue is that we don’t have availability to just bring it right over to some kind of a disposal ... junkyard or whatever. That involves a tow down to someplace that has that,” said Wollen.
A number of years ago, Petersburg had a disposal site in Frederick Sound where vessels — free of contaminants — could be legally sunk. The boats were primarily wooden vessels back then, but with more boats made of steel and fiberglass, materials that do not break down as easily as wood, sinking at the site was eventually outlawed, Wollen said in a radio interview Aug. 19.
Over the years, smaller derelict vessels could be dealt with in-house by the harbor department, often with assistance from public works crews. However, the borough’s ability to dispose of larger vessels is limited. The size of some derelict vessels exceed what the department is equipped to handle, and the costs of additional labor and time add up.
The newly allocated funds in this fiscal year’s budget will help cover the costs of disposing of two large derelict boats.
Discussion among the assembly in early August questioned the sustainability of using reserves to fund the disposal of derelict vessels in the long run. After approving the spending increase in August, the assembly amended municipal code to establish the borough’s ability to recover costs from the owners of derelict vessels.
The updated municipal code now clarifies that boat owners are liable for all costs associated with the disposal of their derelict vessels.
In Wrangell, the port commission and borough assembly have discussed the same problem and considered amending borough code to require that boat owners carry insurance to protect the borough and other vessel owners from damage or cleanup and disposal caused by a fire or sinking.
But the assembly decided in June to stop working on the proposed ordinance. Members discussed that it would be a bad time during low salmon prices to impose a new expense on vessel owners.
The Wrangell Harbor Department has spent roughly $83,000 recovering and disposing of derelict vessels in the past five years, according to borough officials.
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