Derelict dinghy
Abandoned boat causing problems on North Shore
When a car is abandoned along the highway, the police send a truck to tow it away at the owner’s expense.
Leave a boat along a Pennsylvania waterway and salvaging it is more complicated. And time-consuming.
A confusing legal process is underway to remove a pleasure boat that has been tied to an Allegheny River mooring on the North Shore since July or August.
The owner of the 31-foot Bayliner doesn’t want it back. The Sports and Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, which owns the promenade where it is moored under the Fort Duquesne Bridge, wants the sinking eyesore removed. Passersby on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail are complaining, jurisdictional authority has been unclear and making it go away has become a multi-agency pain in the transom.
“It was floating here last summer. You’d think it wouldn’t take so long to get it out of there, at such a conspicuous place,” said Cicely Reasoner, a computer programmer who passes the crippled vessel during her weekday morning power walks.
Despite its list to starboard, in autumn someone was apparently sleeping in the cramped dirty space under the boat’s fabric cabin cover. If it wasn’t the owner, the boat may have been a shelter of opportunity for someone in need of a roof.
“And I’m here every morning, sometimes with no one around,” said Ms. Reasoner on Friday. “The city should have more self-respect.” Pittsburgh may be the City of Bridges, but it’s not the City of Stuff Left Under the Bridges. Public Works said removal of abandoned watercraft is not the city’s responsibility. The U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers referred the matter to state authorities.
Mike Parker, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, said that soon after hearing the initial complaints, the agency agreed to deal with the unattended craft whether it bore legal responsibility or not. In fact, in most cases the Pennsylvania Code places the burden of salvaging abandoned boats on Fish and Boat.
“The difficulty is the law
“We find boats abandoned on Pennsylvania rivers all the time. This one, it’s in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Mike Parker spokesman for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
protect boat owners from having their boats stolen,” said Mr. Parker. “You can’t just claim one if you find it. There’s a process for changing ownership without the owner’s participation and it takes a while.”
Fish and Boat has been wrangling with the process for months. The relevant law goes something like this:
A person who wants an apparently abandoned boat has to send the agency a downloadable document including registration number, hull ID, temporary decal number, model and year, swearing under penalty of law that the information is accurate. Upon request for a title change, the commission sends a certified letter to the last known owner. If ownership is not claimed and the boat is not moved within 30 days, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat has 45 days to legally take possession, dispose of the boat or sell it at auction, or authorize a salvor to get rid of it. PFBC and the salvage company are reimbursed for costs incurred including removal, towing and storage. If the remaining proceeds on the sale are not claimed within 60 days, Fish and Boat keeps the cash. If the craft is determined to be valueless, the salvor may apply for ownership. When the title arrives, the boat can be stripped and sold for parts.
“We’re looking into what laws may have been broken,” said Mr. Parker. “We’ve been working with the Sports and Exhibition Authority, but there’s another complication.”
Before it can be moved, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to confirm there is no boat fuel, oil or other possible pollutants aboard or leaking from the listing vessel. If chemical products are found, Mr. Parker said another legal process outlines its safe removal.
The city may find additional violations including mooring beyond the allotted time, overnight camping on the wharf, restrictions on the use of city launching ramps and the breaking of various public safety and fire hazard laws.
The owner is not cooperating, said Mr. Parker. Nevertheless, Fish and Boat is protecting his identity as a courtesy. The trashed Bayliner sinks a little deeper by the week, and North Shore Riverfront Park is weeks away from the spring crowds that gather for ballgames and concerts.
“We find boats abandoned on Pennsylvania rivers all the time,” said Mr. Parker. “This one, it’s in the wrong place at the wrong time and it’s got to get out of there.”