The National Park Service has teamed up with a number of agencies to form a task force and launch “Operation Clean Bay.” (Photo by Don Riepe)Rangers and staff of the Gateway National Recreation Area have launched “Operation Clean Bay” in an effort to address the issue of abandoned boats in Jamaica Bay.
The program aims to stop illegal dumping and end the practice of leaving unwanted or retired boats in the national preserve. This will be accomplished through fines and by spreading awareness, according to Gateway spokesman John Daskalakis.
“This is a positive thing for everyone,” he said, noting that in the short time since launching the program, they’re already “seeing a noticeable improvement.”
Gateway is working with a task force — comprised of the National Park Service and U.S. Coast Guard, the NYPD, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the city Department of Environmental Protection — to investigate the ownership of derelict boats.
Those who are found to have deliberately abandoned their vessels — a violation of city, state and federal law — are subject to significant penalties up to $25,000 and imprisonment.
Using traceable information, the taskforce has identified 18 of the 60 or so deserted boats around Jamaica Bay. This combined effort — the first of its kind — is proving to be successful, according to Daskalakis, as boats and barges are being removed and problems are getting resolved.
One such situation is nearing completion: two barges are in the process of being removed from the bay by the DEC and the company found responsible for dumping the vessels near Broad Channel in September. One barge partially sank and pushed up against developing salt marshes on the east side of Barbados Basin and the other is fully submerged.
Gateway hopes to deter people from dumping vessels, garbage and other waste materials into the bay, as it poses significant environmental threats. According to preservationist Don Riepe, who founded the Jamaica Bay Guardian, derelict boats carrying oil, grease and debris impede wetland growth and can pose risks to human health. Additionally, their unsightliness destroys Jamaica Bay’s aesthetic appeal.
“Jamaica Bay is a very special place to all of us,” Riepe said, adding that he and his supporters intend to protect it. “We’re all looking, so people should beware: if they’re trying to dump things ... they’re going to get caught.”
It is easier and cheaper to dump a boat than to pay someone to remove and properly discard it, Daskalakis noted. This is why it is necessary to show owners that dumping is not without costly ramifications, both financial and environmental. Gateway is placing emphasis on educating owners about the environmental damage caused by dumping and about the legal ways they can discard vessels and waste.
The task force uses global position system readings to locate derelict vessels in the bay, but is encouraging visitors to report illegal dumping activity by calling (718) 338-3718.
