NewsPress.com

July 23, 2007

Abandoned boats an increasing problem in Lee

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070723/NEWS0105/70723036/1075

by Amy Sowder

They’re barnacle-covered, leaky and a hassle: abandoned boats.

And they cost a lot when no one wants them.

More taxpayer money than ever is being spent this year on removing boats people abandon in Lee County, the first year boat abandonment has been a criminal offense.

In 2001, the Lee County Natural Resources’ Marine Program spent $50,000 to remove derelict vessels. There is $400,000 budgeted for 2008.

“We’ve maxed out our budget this year,” said Justin McBride, the department’s senior environmental specialist.

The $300,000 allotted for 2007 has already been spent, and officials plan to dip into the $400,000 recently awarded since the money comes with no time constraints, McBride said. When the money runs out, the boats simply sit.

The cash comes from a grant with West Coast Inland Navigation District that derives its money from property taxes.

Department officials are scratching their heads about why there has been such an increase in left-behind vessels.

Thirty-one derelict vessels were pulled in 2004, the year Hurricane Charley ripped through Southwest Florida. There were 76 last year.

“It kind of coincides with Hurricane Charley, but we don’t think that is the reason,” McBride said.

“We’d love to know because then we could attack the problem.’’

One possible answer is population growth.

The number of registered boats has jumped from 43,652 in 2001 to 50,988 in 2006, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission statistics.

Problems created

But whatever the reason, officials maintain abandoned boats can cause several problems:

• Clogged channels for navigation.

• Destroyed sea grass, an essential habitat for marine life.

• Leaking fuels and fluids, which can cause massive fish kills.

• County removal costs that are passed on to tax-paying residents.

Hurricane Bay, near Fort Myers Beach, is the most popular spot for dumping boats, McBride said. Although the environmental specialist can’t recall a substantial fish-kill caused by derelict vessels, the seagrass in the bay has to be a damaged habitat by now, he said.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has not studied the impact of derelict vessels, said spokeswoman Sarah Williams.

“But we do work with law enforcement in emergency response to all fuel spills, whether the boat is abandoned or manned,” Williams said. “With any type of fuel spill in a waterway, our concern is first to contain and clean it, and then its impact on water quality and marine life.”

So far this year, 22 boats have been removed from waters in Lee County, and at least six more will be gone this month, McBride said. The boats are taken apart and end up in landfills and junkyards.

By the end of July, Kelly Brothers Inc. and Lee County sheriff’s Cpl. Joe Ragen plan to remove those six vessels from the Caloosahatchee River at a cost of $40,700.

This year is the first time the sheriff’s office has stepped in to take criminal action against boat dumpers. Before, the boats were just removed and the registered owner lost vessel registration privileges.

Offenders who leave boats can face up to five years in jail and a $5,000 fine for the third-degree felony of littering.

Several cases have been sent to the state attorney’s office and more than eight more are pending, Ragen said.

No one has been convicted yet, and publicly identifying the alleged culprits could taint the ongoing investigations, Ragen said.

However, if the state registration numbers are still legible on the boats, Ragen tries to contact the owners and give them time to respond.

One of those pending cases is a boat that was not tagged as derelict at the time, but it was after Roy Brown, 46, died on June 3, McBride said.

Brown was riding a Sea-Doo personal watercraft when he was decapitated by the boat’s anchor line.

Problem getting worse

And people are increasingly leaving behind their boats.

“They just took eight out of Hurricane Bay, and they didn’t even put a dent in it. It’s disgusting,” Ragen said as he sliced through the Caloosahatchee on a flats boat.

Ragen’s eyes scanned the brown water, landing on a 22-foot blue sailboat, stripped of its sail and leaning at a 45-degree angle by Brazilian pepper trees in the Olga area of the river.

“It’s a piece of junk,” Ragen said, shaking his head. “If you can’t afford it, that doesn’t give you the right to litter our waterways. That’s one of my pet peeves.”

To properly dock a boat, you could pay $300 or more a month at area waters, Ragen said.

If boat owners aren’t responsible, marina operators can suffer.

When a shrimp boat was abandoned near Jack’s Marine in Fort Myers in May 2006, it started a year of headaches and financial losses for general manager Lori Bourque.

The boat drifted and smashed into the Jack’s Marine dock, causing $18,000 damage. The lost revenue from that damaged dock for a year was $6,780. Plus, it cost $500 for a lawyer to figure out who was responsible for the boat.

“It was a tremendous pain, monetarily and time-wise,” Bourque said.