A new OPB report shows that state or federal officials had ordered the removal of a 431-foot derelict barge near Camas, called the Davy Crockett, in 2005 and again in 2009. In 2009, the Coast Guard required the owner to conduct surveys of how much oil was present and to remove the ship. The Coast Guard did not follow through and in 2011 the ship spilled PCB-laden oil that created a 15-mile sheen on the Columbia River. No one knows how much oil was spilled into the Columbia, or what the oil contained. Samples of captured oil showed PCB levels that were 24,000,000% higher than water quality standards. Tax-payers eventually paid $22 million to remove the vessel, but extensive environmental damage was already done.
OPB interviewed Riverkeeper's Executive Director Brett VandenHeuvel, who stated, “It was not an accident; it’s more a failure of our agencies and the Coast Guard to oversee what’s happening on the Columbia." Riverkeeper is working with state and federal officials to evaluate other derelict ships and help ensure a better system of responsibility.
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