Other LanguagesTugboat sank in Bainbridge Island’s Eagle Harbor Marina in 2013
PORT ORCHARD — At a hearing today in Kitsap County Superior Court, a judge ordered the former owner of the sunken tugboat Chickamauga to pay more than $44,000 in restitution to the state departments of Ecology and Natural Resources.
The case, prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Criminal Justice Unit, stemmed from the sinking of the tugboat in 2013, which released between 200 and 300 gallons of diesel fuel into Bainbridge Island’s Eagle Harbor.
The former owner, Anthony Smith, pled guilty in July to charges of causing a vessel to become abandoned or derelict, a misdemeanor, and discharging polluting matter into state waters, a gross misdemeanor. As part of the plea agreement, Smith served 20 days in home confinement and will spend two years on probation.
In exchange for Smith’s guilty plea, AGO prosecutors agreed to dismiss first-degree theft charges related to his failure to pay moorage fees for more than six months.
At today’s hearing, Judge Jennifer Forbes ordered Smith to pay a total of $44,616 in restitution — $42,338 to the state Department of Natural Resources for raising and removing the Chickamauga from Eagle Harbor, and $2,278 to the Department of Ecology for diesel fuel cleanup.
“If you damage our environment, you will be held accountable,” said Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “Derelict vessels are a serious threat to our waterways, and the damage they cause has a cost, both ecologically and financially.”
“Sadly, the boat sinking and spill were preventable,” said Dale Jensen, Ecology’s Spills Program manager. “Mr. Smith chose to neglect his vessel, and ended up causing a significant spill. Our spill responders, along with the Coast Guard and Department of Natural Resources, responded and worked hard to clean up the mess.”
“I appreciate the Attorney General’s dogged efforts to keep taxpayer dollars from being sunk into derelict boats,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark. “Recovering these costs allows us to clear more boats from our state’s precious waterways.”
Ferguson has made prosecuting environmental crimes a priority of his administration. This is the third derelict vessel case the Attorney General’s Office has filed since 2014, with all three cases resulting in convictions.
The Attorney General’s Office handled the case at the request of the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office. The lead prosecutor was Assistant Attorney General Joshua Choate.
Owners of boats in disrepair can contact DNR’s Vessel Turn-In Program to proactively dispose of them before they become problems in the water.
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The Office of the Attorney General is the chief legal office for the state of Washington with attorneys and staff in 27 divisions across the state providing legal services to roughly 200 state agencies, boards and commissions. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.
Contacts:
Peter Lavallee, Communications Director, (360) 586-0725; PeterL@atg.wa.gov