Abandoned boats are piling up on Virginia’s waters

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE, Va. – Deserted boats are littering Virginia and are impacting the economic system, folks’s security and wildlife habitats.

Between information from the U.S. Coast Guard and experiences from native marinas, there are greater than 200 deserted vessels throughout the Commonwealth.

Within the final yr, about 10 deserted boats had been reported at Smith Mountain Lake.

Clear Virginia Waterways Government Director Katie Register mentioned it could possibly value between $14,000 to $35,000 to correctly get rid of a ship.

However marinas could also be paying a better charge if deserted boats take up their house or worse trigger harm.

“One of many marinas at Smith Mountain Lake, a ship sunk,” Register mentioned. “And because it sunk it pulled down a part of their infrastructure. So, now they’ve acquired broken docks that now they should discover who’s chargeable for that.”

Clear Virginia Waterways of Longwood College and the Virginia Coastal Zone Administration Program are working collectively to rearrange offers with landfills to cut back disposal charges to boat house owners.