District debris team hauls out busted marina from San Pablo Bay
By Brandon Beach
District Public Affairs
SAN FRANCISCO, June 25, 2009 - San Francisco District debris crews responded to a call last month reporting that a marina was found floating in the waters near Concord, Calif.
The collapsed wooden-covered pier was estimated at close to 300 feet long and 40 feet wide.
“It was being towed by a person looking to start a marina,” said Joe McCormick, captain of the Raccoon, part of the district’s fleet of debris removal vessels. “The wind kicked up, and it unfortunately got away from him.”
Crews from both the Raccoon and the Grizzly, a small craft debris removal vessel, were dispatched to the scene early on the morning of May 7.
Over the course of two days, crew members from the Raccoon alone hauled out more than 20 tons of debris.
“When you collect something like that, it gives you a good feeling,” said Rick Curry, a debris collection worker. “You’re really doing something.”
Though the marina was initially discovered outside of Federal waters, by midweek, the large floating wreckage had entered the north part of San Pablo Bay, falling under the Corps’ jurisdiction for removal.
A crane operator from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — San Francisco District debris crew lifts out pieces of a 300-feet long 40-feet wide marina that broke off when gusty winds flipped it over forcing its owner to cut it off from his boat. The owner was towing it up the San Pablo Bay when the accident occurred last month. (Photo by Brandon Beach) |