EVERETT — JoJo is in trouble … and sand.
The 45-foot, steel-hulled vessel grounded earlier this week at Howarth Park. Now, its owner has to tow it off the beach or else local and state government agencies will have it shipped away for disposal.
Authorities are in contact with the owner, who was expected to try and move the boat Friday afternoon, said Troy Wood, manager of the Department of Natural Resources’ Derelict Vessel Removal Program.
“Until he walks away or shows he’s unable, we can’t do anything with it,” Wood said. “But we are aware of it and we do have it in our database and we’re working with a bunch of people to keep the information flowing.”
After it landed at Howarth Park, the state Department of Ecology inspected the boat and removed loose cans containing oil and other hazardous materials, agency spokesperson Larry Altose said Friday.
So far, no fuel has spilled into the water and the boat’s risk to marine life isn’t high.
“We’re pretty sure that we’ve removed, if not all of the threat of a spill, most of the threat of a spill,” Altose said.
If the boat is abandoned, the city would have to take custody of the vessel before his agency could remove it, because it’s on park land, he added.
The Derelict Vessel Removal Program is monitoring about 20 boats stuck in Snohomish County.
Most are in the Snohomish River near Steamboat Slough. The state agency and county are working to take custody of several, Wood said.
Joey Thompson: 425-339-3449; jthompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @byjoeythompson.
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