Barges Finally Removed in West Palm Beach

[stevek185]

Glad these things are finally gone! They were such an eyesore!!

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_c_palm_beach_county/abandoned-barge-removed-from-peanut-island

PEANUT ISLAND, Fla. - An abandoned barge has been removed from its home one hundred yards off of Peanut Island in Palm Beach County.

At nearby Riviera Beach Marina, some business owners are saying good riddance.

Randy Andersen, owner of Blue Water Power Boat Rentals said, "It has been an eyesore and even beyond that it will open the channel up a little bit because there gets to be a lot of congestion, especially on the weekend when there's a lot of boat traffic. So that being removed definitely opens things up."

The abandoned barge was one of three floating less than one hundred yards away from Peanut Island.

All three are now headed to a scrap yard in Fort Pierce.

Ocean Quest Scuba owner Vicky Shaffer calls the barges a safety hazard.

"When we're taking people around between dives, we'll go around the island and we'll show them some sites, so it is an eyesore," said Shaffer.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, Lockheed Martin contracted a company to take the barges to the scrap yard.

It's not clear who owned them because their hull numbers are rusted off.

With the bucket of rust headed away the other two barges won't be far behind.

The U.S. Coast Guard says if Tuesday's trip goes well then the other two barges could be gone in a matter of a few weeks.

[cataholic]

You got something against barges??

[BMarkey]

Yes! They are nasty, disgusting, fouling the beautiful water nearby, a horrible eyesore in an otherwise beautiful, scenic area, illegally moored (sunk), abandoned, etc.! And they inhibit navigation in the western Peanut Island area.

I have complained about them for years. On another forum, I wrote about what I discovered about them. Two phone calls got me the following information. It's really to bad the professional WPTV reporter could not do the same, and instead indicated the owner of the barges was not known. the reporter also offered no background on the issue. Poor journalism, but unfortunately, par for the course.

May 25, 2010 ...

I just spoke to Brock Stanaland, an analyst with the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management (ERM). He said the derelict barges near Peanut Island are going to be removed "soon" - probably within months - and offered the following details about the situation:

The three barges are, or were owned by a marine contracting company owned by a man called Zapetis. The barges were not part of the Peanut Island restoration and landed where they are when Zapetis effectively abandoned them.

For years, Zapetis would go back to them once in a while and try to float them or move them, telling authorities he had plans for them. He would do enough work to make them appear to be seaworthy.

Later, he put off enforcement by claiming he was donating the barges to ERM to become an artificial reef. ERM had agreed to take one of the three barges as an offshore reef, but insisted Zapetis first get permission from the U.S. Coast Guard to tow a barge out of the Palm Beach Inlet. The Coast Guard researched said the barge would require a substantial amount of work before towing - to ensure it would not sink in or near the inlet. Zapetis either would not pay the money, or could not afford it. But he continued to tell authorities he was working with ERM.

ERM finally wrote letters to other agencies such as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), claiming no involvement with the barges. Yet they still sat there, with Zapetis making excuses and the various government agencies doing nothing.

ERM used to be responsible for enforcement of derelict vessels. But now only the FWC regulates such craft, and apparently does little if any enforcement, and probably has no budget to remove derelict craft. That means just about anyone can park a boat for months and years - sometimes without even registering it or buying an annual tag - without prosecution. That would explain all the homeless types living on wrecks around Peanut Island and Phil Foster Park.

In Palm Beach County, the not-for-profit Reef Keepers has taken the responsibility to remove derelict boats. Before the boats can be removed, the owners must be notified officially and the boats tagged by the Sheriff's Office.

After the last hurricane, Palm Beach County used $500,000 in FEMA money to remove damaged and abandoned boats. Only 2 to 3 percent of the money spent was returned from derelict boat owners. Many owners denied responsibility for their craft, or claimed the boats had been sold to someone else.

Supposedly, anyone whose boat cost the county money, and did not reciprocate, cannot obtain a tag for another watercraft in Palm Beach County. It would be nice if that regulation could be expanded to include a ban on registration of motor vehicles and boat registrations in any Florida county.

ERM has been contacted by a company bidding to remove the three barges. Apparently, one of the large boat companies in Riviera Beach is going to fund the project to mitigate environmental damage that would be done in the dredging of the marinas around the port area. The job is expected to be done within months.

ERM realizes the barges are a hazard (at least one boating accident can be attributed to the barges), especially should a hurricane strike this area. Bye-bye Riviera Beach marinas.

Zapetis has "left Florida" and will have no part of the barges' demise, acording to the county, nor will he pay for the clean-up project. It sounds like he will get off without financial or criminal penalty.

[stevek185]

Wow! Great info BMARKEY! Any thoughts of sending this to the local news media? Maybe if Zapetis is tried in the "court of public opinion" somebody may try to charge him for the cleanup?

[SeaShot]

I to am happy they are gone, but they sure did hold alot of small Jew fish that were great fun when it was slow off shore. All in all I agree that it is nice not to have them there.

[BiminiTwist]

It would of been nice if they just sunk them offshore for a reef. We need more off of Palm Beach.

[BMarkey]

The owner wanted to donate them for a reef, but the Coast Guard wanted him to make them seaworthy enough to get out the inlet and to the sinking area. The owner would not pay a dime and instead dumped them on us, the taxpayers.

How do people like him get away with this?! As for the media covering it I would have thought the reporters would have done a Google search on the guy and his company, or at least read the message boards on the subject before "reporting" on a story they know so little about.

[cataholic]

Reporters are often lazy.