The next attempt to dispose of stranded fishing boats—from the American Challenger in Dillon Beach to the Point Reyes shipwreck that attracts tourists to the Inverness Store—will have to wait a bit longer. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration rebuffed a $14.9 million grant request to dispose of marine debris from a 30-mile stretch of Marin and Sonoma County coastline.
The California State Lands Commission, which oversees the state’s tidal and submerged land, was among 53 agencies that sought funding from NOAA offered through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Fourteen of them won a total of $69.7 million.
The lands commission included 14 vessels in the grant proposal, along with two piles of dumped tires, rotting pilings coated with creosote, and hundreds of iron oyster racks submerged in the 1982 flood. Andrew Kershen, an attorney with the lands commission, said the dumped tires near the Marconi Conference Center were impeding the potential growth of eel grass.
An Inverness environmentalist who helped map some potential cleanup sites included in the grant application, Richard James, said the larger of the piles contained more than 500 tires. “I counted 497 of them, and I only saw them because it was a very low tide,” he said. “You have to be right on top of them in a kayak to see them. You wouldn’t even see them from the shore at a low tide.”
The abandoned oyster racks are also only visible at very low tide, he said. But, he added, “The number-one item on the menu was the American Challenger.”
Last fall, a coalition led by the United States Coast Guard attempted to remove the 90-foot fishing boat that has been stuck in an inaccessible stretch of rocky waters north of Dillon Beach for two years. They suspended efforts after using up $12 million in funding from the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.
The Challenger broke free from a steel shackle while being towed from its home port in Port Angeles, Wash., to a scrapyard in Mexico. The owner had no insurance and couldn’t pay to remove it, so a coalition of public agencies was tasked with towing and destroying the vessel.
In addition to the Coast Guard, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Environmental Protection Agency and officials from the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary participated in the effort.
The coalition spent several weeks trying to remove the Challenger using a huge winch system mounted on a nearby cliff. They managed to move the boat about 50 feet during high tides while keeping its hull intact, but the boat was still 100 feet from shore when they determined it was too heavy to pull across another series of rocks. Salvage contractors removed some remaining fuel from the boat, which was largely drained of fuel for towing.
Among the other abandoned vessels the lands commission hoped to remove were a sailboat between Dillon Beach and Keys Creek and the frequently photographed fishing boat behind the Inverness Store. Mr. James said invasive European green crabs use the wrecked sailboat for habitat and spawning grounds, and a few years ago the shipwreck was set on fire by social media photographers.
Sheri Pemberton, a spokeswoman for the lands commission, said officials were aware that some people considered the wreck a historic or scenic landmark when they included it as a potential target for removal.
The commission could reapply for the NOAA grant next year, and it plans to continue searching for other funding options to finance debris removal. The Coast Guard is also seeking alternative funding sources to revive its efforts to remove the Challenger.