LAUDERDALE ISLES, Fla. – A man abandoned his damaged 80-foot boat in Broward County’s town of Davie. The fuel is leaking into the water. The sinking vessel is covered in graffiti.
The residents of the Lauderdale Isles community have been dealing with this for about three months, and they are worried about the South New Fork River.
“All of the diesel fuel, the oil, all of that is seeping into the water,” Joann Kratky said.
Department of Environmental Protection personnel used floating barriers in an attempt to isolate the spill. Kratky said this may not be enough.
“The smell is horrendous,” Kratky said. “It’s not only affecting the fish but the plants that grow underwater.”
Meanwhile, the boat’s owner Kenneth Wright stopped paying rent for the dock in August and filed for bankruptcy in February, according to Howard Rosenberg, the owner of the dock.
“Mr. Wright is an attorney up in Louisiana, and why he had this boat here doing nothing, you have to ask him,” Rosenberg said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been issuing violation notices. Kratky said she had a message for Wright: “You need to get this out of the water!”
Wright’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment in time for the publication of this story.