An abandoned sailboat that has been launguishing along the shores of Lake Tahoe for years is no closer to being removed.
I first reported on the issue in the Aug. 17 story “Broken & abandoned in Lake Tahoe:
Removing wrecked boats complicated issue,” after spending months investigating why the sailboat had been left in the lake for more than 2 years. I listened to the frustration from nonprofit organizations that tried to help and community members concerned about pollution, and yet the boat remains rotting in the shallow waters off Kings Beach.
Broken glass, rotting wood and a half-sunken hull not only present a danger to children that have been seen playing on it, but the shell of the boat is decaying in the lake, which is also a source of drinking water for the community. The nonprofit Below the Blue removed gas, oil, sewage and other chemicals from the boat in 2021, but the boat is rusting in the lake and breaking down into microplastics.
Read our Aug. 17 story “Broken & abandoned in Lake Tahoe”
In September, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) referred my inquiries to Kerri O’Keefe, engineering geologist for the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. O’Keefe provided a glimmer of hope. She said that her agency requested an exemption to expedite removal before winter to avoid further discharges into the lake and potential navigation hazards as the vessel could break apart more during winter storms.
O’Keefe’s said they were working with U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to obtain an exemption for the removal of vessels and added that they also needed to get the scope of work approved by the CA State Lands Commission and the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife. The removal had been scheduled for Sept. 21, and then rescheduled to Oct. 15. As of presstime for this edition, the boat has yet to be removed.
O’Keefe says she has contacted the owner of the boat, Timothy Alan Doss, to have the boat removed but he has yet to take action. Lahontan Regional Water Quality has now referred Doss to the California State Water Resources Control Board Office of Enforcement for failure to comply with its directives, according to O’Keefe.
