Efforts to rid Jamaica Bay of hazardous, abandoned vessels got a boost last week from a local politician’s new plan to crack down on boat owners.Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens) on Thursday called for a three-part federal aid package, which was developed in support of a clean-up program launched this year by Gateway National Park.
“Operation Clean Bay” aims to stop illegal boat dumping and end the practice of leaving unwanted or retired boats in the 8,000-acre national preserve. Gateway teamed up with a number of other agencies — including the U.S. Coast Guard, state Department of Environmental Conservation and the city Sanitation Department, among others — to locate derelict boats in the bay, tow them out of the water, and find and fine their owners.
Since it launched the program in May, Gateway, with the help of volunteer tow companies, has already retrieved 48 boats. But it is estimated that the bay contains as many as 180 more vessels.
Weiner recommended creating a $25 million federal matching grant program to help states and cities remove thousands of toxic boats from U.S. waters. The funds would help with boat removal, locating owners and even offer bounties for abandoned boat tips.
Another component of Weiner’s plan is the creation of a National Park Service cleanup fund for abandoned boats. To supplement this, the maximum penalty imposed on those who dump their boats would be increased from $37,500 to $52,500, Weiner said.
Dumping vessels, garbage and other waste into the bay poses significant environmental threats, according to preservationist Don Riepe, who founded the Jamaica Bay Guardian. Often, the boats carry oil, grease and debris, and spill fuel, acid and other chemicals. This can impede wetland growth and pose risks to human health, said Riepe, whose grassroots organization was the first to call attention to and address this problem.
It is easier and cheaper to dump a boat than to pay someone to remove and properly discard it, according to National Park Service District Ranger and program coordinator John Daskalakis.
Other than showing owners that dumping is not without costly ramifications, Daskalakis finds it critical to educate owners about the environmental harm dumping causes and about the legal means through which they can discard vessels and waste.
Gateway will continue removing sunken boats from the bay through September.
