US. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) led a bipartisan letter with a number of their colleagues calling for a formal study on the impact of derelict vessels to waterways and coastal communities.
In a letter sent to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) led by Senator Cantwell, Representative Kilmer and Senator Wicker, the members urged the agency to conduct a review of how the U.S. is working to stop the threat derelict vessels pose to economies and the environment. Specifically, the Members called for a review of how the United States Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) address abandoned and derelict vessels. The U.S. currently lacks the information required to identify, track, and respond to derelict vessels. Early notification of abandoned vessels is key to protecting our nation’s waterways and preventing disasters that impact businesses, wildlife, and people who recreate and live in communities close to our lakes, rivers, and oceans.
In the letter, the Senators and Members of Congress wrote:
“Abandoned and derelict vessels pose a direct threat to both the safety of maritime navigation and natural resources. Derelict vessels block waterways impacting marine transportation and some have also become major sources of pollution.”
Derelict vessels threaten the environment and coastal economies through the discharge of oil and other hazardous materials and blocking navigation channels. In 2009, the derelict vessel the DAVEY CROCKETT spilled over a million gallons of oil into the Columbia River, costing taxpayers approximately $22 million dollars to clean up. Within just a couple of years of the DAVEY CROCKETT disaster, the abandoned vessel, the DEEP SEA, caught fire, sank, and released oil into Penn Cove, Washington. That spill shut down shellfish farms for two months. One shellfish farmer alone documented his losses at $50,000 per day. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the owner found guilty of abandoning the derelict vessel is liable for $2.8 million for the damage caused by the DEEP SEA.
“The last time the GAO reviewed abandoned and derelict vessel policies was in 1992. The report made federal policy recommendations to both Congress and the Coast Guard to highlight this issue and proposed preventative solutions,” the letter continued. “Yet, some twenty years later, derelict vessels continue to impact our economies and our environment.”
Source: cantwell.senate.gov
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