The Coast Guard, working with CBJ Docks and Harbors, contracted with Global Diving and Salvage, Amak Towing and the tugboat Taku Wind to move the Lumberman.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“The skipper on the Taku Wind handled it like a dream,” Borg said. “It went really smooth with the Coast Guard handling it.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The Lumberman is structurally sound, Borg said. He added that contaminants, such as fuel or oil, were pumped out during an effort last year, so it’s safely moored alongside the pier.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Towing the vessel and securing it to the dock took emergency funding provided from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, according to Cmdr. Byron Hayes, Coast Guard District 17’s Response Department Head. That’s a federal fund that was put in place after the Exxon Valdez disaster, comes from taxes on oil companies and is used to clean up oil spills and environmental damage from those spills, small or large.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“For us to access that (money), it usually requires an actual or potential environmental threat,” Hayes said. “The second it starts moving down the channel, it becomes a substantial threat in the eyes of the federal on scene coordinator, Capt. (Stephen) White.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
White is the commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector Juneau. The total cost of moving the Lumberman is not yet known, Hayes said, but any money used from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund has a cap set on it from the outset of the operation. The cap is also not known yet, and varies based on the expected needs of the operation. There is flexibility if an operation turns out to be more complicated than the initial assesment, Hayes said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“We were able to take prompt action with our partners so it’s no longer in the middle of the channel posing an environmental threat,” Hayes said in an interview. “We had tugs here that weren’t contracted to do other things. They got underway, cut the ground tackle, took it in tow, and towed it safely.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The owner of the Lumberman, Brendan Mattson, had not been in contact with authorities at this time, Borg said. The Empire attempted to contact him as well.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
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