An abandoned charter boat has partially sunk and is leaking fuel into Mattituck Inlet, posing an environmental threat to the vital waterway as local, state and federal officials work to remove the vessel.
The roughly 60-foot boat sat low in the water Monday afternoon, its lower cabin largely submerged as it leaned sharply against the dock. Bright yellow, blue, white and pink pollution-control boom surrounded the vessel, but a rainbow-colored fuel sheen was still visible against the dock and a strong diesel odor hung over the rain-swept creek.
For a waterway that has spent decades being cleaned up, the sinking boat is more than an eyesore. It is an environmental threat unfolding in real time.
Jimmy King, a former Southold Town trustee who served from 1994 to 2015, said he has been keeping tabs on the boat from his nearby home since he first noticed it taking on water last Tuesday.
He said bay constables responded that day, but he was told there was not much they could do.
Mr. King, who has fished the waters around Mattituck Inlet for 60 years, said he then boarded the vessel himself and used a submersible pump he found on the vessel to drain water and keep it afloat.
By Saturday, he said, the boat had started sinking again.
“This was all preventable,” he said. “It’s a disgrace.”
Mattituck Creek resident Ed Smith said he has also been watching the oil slick spread across the water as a cleanup crew arrived Tuesday.
“It’s not good,” Mr. Smith said. “There’s a lot of diesel and oil floating around the creek.”
Mr. Smith said a remediation worker told him the first step would be pumping fuel from the vessel before any attempt to refloat or move it. The Suffolk Times has not independently confirmed that plan.
A nearby oyster farmer, who asked not to be named because of concerns about his business, said his operation has about 1 million oysters seeded nearby. One farm worker said it takes about two years for oyster seed to grow to market size, and that the beds are buried deep in the creek.
The listing ship is apparently part of a charter service called Timothy J Open Boat Fishing. A number listed on a sign for the company at the dock has been disconnected.
Local residents say the vessel has sat abandoned for at least a year. The private dock is owned by Dan Cooke, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
The Suffolk Times reached out to Mr. Cooke for comment.
Southold Police Chief Steven Grattan said Miller Environmental deployed containment boom around the boat last week, and that town harbormasters, DEC, the Coast Guard and the town attorney’s office have been communicating about the situation.
“I’m not exactly sure who’s responsible for getting that boat hauled out of the water,” Chief Grattan told The Suffolk Times. “That’s something that we’re navigating at this point in time.”
Town Attorney Ben Johnson said DEC and the Army Corps of Engineers are aware of the situation and have elevated the matter internally, but the town may still have to act.
“Everybody has an interest here in making sure that diesel fuel doesn’t leak into the water,” Mr. Johnson said. “When I hear diesel fuel leaking into the creek, we can’t really mince words and wait around for very long. We have to take some action.”
Mr. Johnson said the town may need to declare an emergency, obtain a quote and bring the matter to the Town Board.
“My recommendation to the board will be that we need to take immediate action,” Mr. Johnson said, adding that he cannot act without a Town Board resolution.
Supervisor Al Krupski said he had spoken with town officials and is moving to address the issue.
The Suffolk Times has reached out to the DEC and the Coast Guard for comment.
Mr. Krupski said Mattituck Inlet has been the focus of decades of county work to improve water quality and expand shellfishing opportunities.
“The county did a tremendous amount of drainage work there, and as a result it really paid off as far as water quality,” Mr. Krupski said.