SOUTH CAROLINA IS CLOSE TO BECOMING THE FIRST COASTAL STATE TO HAVE REMOVED ALL OF THEIR DERELICT-ABANDONED BOATS AND LARGE DEBRIS ITEMS
Everyone has seen it – an old sailboat laying sideways on a shoreline, or some old wood washed up into a marsh or on a beach. These items tarnish the beauty of our coastal areas and contaminate the immediate area and reduce our seafood and wildlife populations.
Whenever a 30-foot sailboat starts breaking apart it represents 9,000 pounds of fiberglass, lead, and other harmful materials contaminating the water, seafood, and wildlife around it. The old, treated wood was manufactured using a process that first soaked the wood in arsenic and then coated it with creosote. Both are deadly chemicals. In an old 12 foot piece of treated wood there is still enough arsenic to kill 100 humans and that arsenic is still slowly leaching out.
Thanks to the combined efforts and funding from various state agencies, legislators, private companies and volunteers working together with Wounded Nature – Working Veterans the State of South Carolina is now very close to being the first coastal state in the country to have removed all of their derelict – abandoned boats and large debris items removed from their coastline.
Now we are down to the old, large and hard to remove items and out of funding and favors. A statewide coastal debris list of what remains has been developed along with estimated removal costs. The total cost to cross the finish line for South Carolina is 5 million dollars. After being turned down by NOAA’s Marine Debris department and SC Ports Authority for funding we are now looking for alternate sources of funding.
Being the first state in the nation to return their coastal areas to a pristine condition is a true meaningful legacy for an individual, foundation or company that can fund and make this happen. Once funded it will take about one year to complete the cleanup. This last year will generate a lot of very positive national media attention with every removal along the way.
Interested parties wishing to help and support this effort should reach out and contact woundednature.org.
Rudy is the CEO of Wounded Nature – Working Veterans, a national 501c3 non-profit that brings together “volunteer boaters and veterans to remove debris from hard-to-reach coastal areas.” Preserving these critical wildlife habitats is essential to improving domestic fish, shrimp, and shellfish stocks.
