Still there, still oozing...

As the tide creeps up, stray jerry cans full of diesel, gallons of motor oil and batteries bathe in the waters of Drayton Harbor aboard two derelict vessels beached on the harbor’s south side. They have been at that location for several weeks since owner Warren Hanson was asked to leave Blaine Harbor.

On November 13, when this photo was taken, Paul O’Brien from the state department of ecology said both his agency and the Coast Guard’s pollution unit had inspected the vessels, and the Coast Guard had retained environmental Foss Environmental to clean up the mess. “My understanding is they stripped the boat of anything toxic,” he said, adding that two members of his staff had checked the boats from the beach the same day and had not detected a sheed on the water. “We couldn’t find evidence of pollution,” he said.

Meanwhile, local diver and shipwright Mark Gumley has already started with efforts to clean up the mess himself, picking eight full or partially full cans of diesel and oil out of the water and placing them along the beach above the tide line. City planning director Terry Galvin said the city would start looking at a local solution if the vessels weren’t cleaned up and disposed of soon. “We’ve seen a sheen and believe it’s a problem. I’m really concerned no one is taking responsibility,” he said..

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