A 90-foot fishing vessel that has been grounded off the coast of Bodega Bay since March will be removed this summer.
The American Challenger grounded itself March 6 near Bodega Bay in the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Planning work is slated to begin next week with vessel removal operations later this summer.
Funding for the removal and disposal comes from the federal government's Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and Region 9 of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Officials from the Unified Command from the Marin County Sheriff's Department, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response announced Saturday that the vessel will be removed.
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The Unified Command is committed to successfully removing the threat of pollution by safely and effectively re-floating and relocating the vessel to Lind Marine in Vallejo, where it can be disposed of properly.
The vessel ran aground on rocks north of Dillon Beach when it broke loose from a towing apparatus while en route to Mexico from Puget Sound in Washington.
While the vessel's steel hull is mostly intact, petroleum products and waste onboard are posing a threat to the environment.
