A diver emerged from the New Meadows River, climbing onto a ladder hanging off a U.S. Coast Guard boat just off Dingley Island.
The diver was in the process of attaching a chain to the bottom of the Jacob Pike’s stern to remove the fishing boat that had sunk during the January storms.
The former sardine carrier sat at the bottom of the river with its mast jutting out of the water. Coast Guard personnel had attached large, inflated bags to the boat to float it to the surface. The area surrounding the Jacob Pike was sectioned off by a yellow containment boom and a white absorbent boom to mitigate oil pollution from the wreck.
The operation aims to protect the environment and ensure area waters “stay clean and pristine for everybody to use,” Coast Guard Lt. Pamela Manns said. “That’s ultimately what this is about.”
After a nearly seven-month stay at the bottom of the New Meadows River between Dingley Island and Sheep Island, the 83-foot Jacob Pike was raised on Wednesday, Aug. 7, and towed away the next morning. The vessel was sent to South Portland, where it will be cleaned to remove all residual oil. It will then be disposed of, although Coast Guard officials were not certain of the method for disposal.
The Coast Guard had to use its authority under the Clean Water Act to assume responsibility for the cleanup and disposal of the vessel for the “first time in a long time,” Cmdr. Frank Kulesa said. The Coast Guard used funds from the Federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to respond to the discharge.
It’s common for the Coast Guard to work with the owner of a sunken vessel, Kulesa said. “To have the operation directed by the Coast Guard is typically a result of that owner not doing … the appropriate actions to mitigate the pollution,” he added.
Kulesa, the chief of response operations for Coast Guard Sector Northern New England, said the Jacob Pike’s owner will be billed for the cleanup operation by the National Pollution Fund Center. Kulesa estimated that the cost could exceed $300,000.
The vessel’s owner, Cyrus Cleary, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Jacob Pike was launched in April 1949, making the wooden vessel 75 years old. It was not an active fishing vessel when it sank.
Christopher Hopper, director of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Response Services, said the boat had been renovated before Cleary bought it. He said it had been moored for a “considerable amount of time.”
The boat sank on Jan. 10, during the first of back-to-back winter storms, and soon began leaking oil. The town harbor master and the Coast Guard have pursued its removal since. Cleary was charged with a crime, abandonment of watercraft, and ordered by the Coast Guard to take action.
The Coast Guard hired contractors to set up the booms. Divers recovered 11 marine batteries and pumped 400 gallons of oily water mixture out of the Jacob Pike before safety concerns halted their efforts, according to a press release from the Coast Guard.
The extent of the pollution is unknown. The boat had been sheening intermittently since January, Kulesa said. There are no known reports of pollution affecting marine life in the area.
To create a salvage plan, the Coast Guard partnered with the town, as well as multiple federal and state agencies.
“It’s a great example of state and federal and local partners working together well,” Hopper said.
Last month, the Coast Guard officially received approval to raise the boat and dispose of it.
Hopper said eight to 10 boats sank or were grounded in Maine during the two January storms, but the Jacob Pike was unique because of its size and location.
After the vessel has been fully lifted, it will be inspected for structural integrity before being towed to South Portland.
“Anything like this is a priority,” Kulesa said. “This is just a complex operation that takes time, but any vessel that is discharging, we’re going to treat and take actions to stop that risk of discharge.”
