Park Manager Jack Hartt wrote, in the park’s monthly newsletter Currents, that it landed at the park’s West Beach on April 26, a sunny day with a steady breeze off the Strait
Hart wrote that neighbors to the south of the park were surprised that day to see a houseboat-like structure floating in from the strait towards their beach.
He said they called the Coast Guard, who at first did not believe that it was not being driven by anyone. It was empty, though. And it landed on the beach before the Coast Guard responded.
When they did, it was no longer their jurisdiction, but the Army Corps of Engineers. They did nothing that afternoon either.
Hart continued that the wind blew that night. Then, the next day, the structure had no structure left as the wind and waves had strewn the metal sheeting over a wood frame building on top of the barge into a half-mile of debris. The styrofoam supporting the barge also began to break apart.
Several neighbors took it upon themselves to begin cleaning up the mess, getting the pieces above the high tide line. The size of the structure made this an overwhelming task, however.
With each successive tide, the remaining pieces floated onto the park side of the property lines, where pieces of the structure still reside.
“We are employing volunteers and park staff to clean up what we can, as we also entreat other government agencies to please give us a hand at removing this mess from the beach. Fortunately it was stripped clean by its owner so that there are no hazardous materials other than tar-laden roofing and now a million pill-sized pieces of styrofoam,” Hart said.
Hart says that the state Department of Natural Resources has agreed to fund the clean up by Global Divers with removal set for Thursday.
Photos by Jack Hartt.