A boat washed ashore a restricted area at Naval Air Station North Island early Thurs. morning, impacting operations by creating a potential hazard near the runway and diverting base staff from scheduled projects to deal with another derelict vessel, the sixth, since Jan. 1.
While inspecting the vessel during the brutal winter storm, base public works staff discovered a ruptured fuel tank and other hazmat. This discovery means crews must now wait for specialized contractors to remove the hazmat. Once removed, crews will have to wait for the tide to change before attempting to move boat away from the approach path.
Since 2014, NBC has removed more than 60 vessels, 90 tons of debris (including vessels and shoreline debris) and 600 pounds of hazmat at a cost in excess of half a million dollars to the taxpayer and the detriment of the base. The money to remove the boats comes out of the base’s operating funds, which means those funds cannot be used for needed maintenance to aging infrastructure.
The Zuniga Shoal area just off the coast of NASNI is un-granted state submerged land that falls within the City of San Diego’s municipal boundary, which has become a popular dumping ground for derelict vessels- often abandoned with ownership information removed.
Although very affected by this practice, the Navy unfortunately lacks the jurisdiction and authority to engage in monitoring and enforcement of Zuniga Shoal.
The Navy takes its stewardship of the environment and tax payer money seriously and with more storms in the forecast, is hopeful the San Diego City Council will vote to approve the City’s proposed ordinance which p
| Date Taken: | 02.14.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 02.15.2019 00:19 |
| Story ID: | 310839 |
| Location: | CA, US |
| Web Views: | 76 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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