This is good to hear - Few questions B...
- Millions allocated from what fund?
- Is "turn in program" for owners of vessels under 45' free or is it % cost deferral?
- How big was Helena Star to cost 1.176 M$$?
- What/ do they do with and/or where do they put FRP remains? Land fill?? Is there any usefulness for old chopped-up fiberglass... maybe as road bed enhancement/stabilizer???
Cheers! - Fellow Human - Art
From a special fund set up by the Washington legislature.
The specific "turn in program" was free but limited in amounts. It was a recognition cheaper to do before it sinks than after.
Helena Star was 167'. The state of Washington did file criminal charges against the owners but I don't know what ever resulted. I think clearly they didn't get reimbursed.
Here is an interesting document regarding Helena Star and Golden West, a 130' Vessel.
FV Helena Star and FV Golden West Incident
Actually fiberglass can be recycled as can most all plastics. The problem is just not many people doing it. The reason is it's not economically profitable enough to attract people to do it.
There are only a few products that get huge percentages (close to 100%) of recycling and they have financial incentives. When you discard a battery or tire you pay money, putting a value on it.
I'll talk batteries because I'm more familiar with the process. They are taken to what is known as a Lead Smelter. These facilities are highly regulated today although they were very damaging to the environment in the 60's through 80's and in some cases the 90's. The offenders who didn't necessarily even know they were creating a problem have paid tens and hundreds of millions for reclamation of superfund sites. There are still thousands of sites to be cleaned up, however. But lead smelter companies operating in the US today recycle every part of the battery, which is really only two primary materials, lead and plastic. So, there are huge costs to pay, penalties, risk of shut down, for failing to control what happens with lead in a smelter and also incentives which make recovery of the lead and plastic profitable. The Smelters actually buy the old batteries. As long as they can reclaim the lead for less than the commodities price of mined lead, then it's a profitable business. We are best at protecting the environment when there is financial reason, either through reward or penalty. Seldom is it done voluntarily as it would put a company at a competitive disadvantage. While some lead smelter operations were improving and meeting all EPA requirements, there were others who continued not to do so, then ended up in bankruptcy (which doesn't wipe out a claim but sure does delay collecting it and often it's never collected.)
One other rule the state of Washington has put into effect is requiring any boat over 65' and over 40 years old to pass a survey before it can be transferred in a sale. That has been controversial, but the intent is to eliminate what is commonly done in other places (quite a bit in Florida) is to sell a derelict boat to a non-suspecting customer for a nominal amount and then leave them stuck with the task of disposing of it. There were some boats actually sold by marinas which had not been paid slip rent to homeless for as little as $10. In one case, the marina even assisted the buyer in getting it started and moved out from the dock. It didn't run long and meanwhile took on water and the buyer was rescued as the boat sank a very short distance out. Not fair for the homeless man, but not really fair for the marina that got left the boat. This is also why marinas are being more careful. I know a couple of years ago, three of the older fishing boats which were removed as part of the derelict program in Washington were sitting in slips at Westport Marina in Grays Harbor. They were still afloat and could be safely pulled to the boat ramp there. They had long ago been abandoned. While the cost of removal wasn't cheap, it was only a small part of what it might have been had they sunk and had fuel spilled.
