West Coast agencies are poised to receive a slice of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s $23 million Climate-Ready Coasts initiative funding for the removal and interception of marine debris, the U.S. Department of Commerce and NOAA said Sept. 5.
Recipients include the City of Oakland, which is being awarded about $3.1 million to extract dilapidated vessels, appliances, furniture and other large debris from the Oakland Alameda Estuary and help launch a boat buy-back program and drive cleanups along the shoreline, among other efforts.
Meanwhile, the Gulf of Alaska Keeper has secured nearly $3.8 million to team up with the community to remove major debris using helicopters and professional crews along the more than 70 miles of Montague Island shoreline in the northern Gulf of Alaska.
The funding also benefits data collection and the recovery of chemically-treated wood at Gore Point on the Kenai Peninsula.
Another recipient, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, is receiving about $1 million to work with the Squaxin Island Tribe on removing abandoned, neglected vessels from the South Puget Sound on tribe-owned tidelands and hosting six vessel turn-in events in Western Washington to help prevent vessels from ending up as debris along the shore.
“This was a highly competitive process that highlighted the tremendous need and high demand communities have for marine debris removal support,” NOAA National Ocean Service Director Nicole LeBoeuf said. “These high-impact projects will create cleaner and safer shorelines while preventing future debris accumulation in the environment.”
