Duval County

Altamaha Riverkeeper reports vandals cut booms protecting environment from Golden Ray oil spill

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The cutting operation of the Golden Ray cargo ship that capsized in 2019 is on hold again after a large oil spill, Altamaha Riverkeeper’s Fletcher Sams told Action News Jax.

Sams says what was supposed to be a four-month cutting operation to remove the ship piece-by-piece, has taken almost 17 months so far.

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On Thursday morning, Sams says the Unified Command, which is leading the removal effort, told him crews have paused the sixth cut to assess their equipment and strategize.

”They had a fairly large spill with this last cut, and they have been applying sphagnum moss directly to oiled grasses in the area,” Sams said.

Sphagnum moss absorbs and contains oil, but Sams worries about it sinking into the aquatic environment.

Oil seeping into the environment has also been a main concern, and now, Sams says it appears vandals have cut cables to oil booms — large flotation devices that contain spilled oil.

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”So now we have a new problem to Golden Ray, which is vandalism of equipment that’s designed to protect our sensitive areas,” Sams added.

Bird Island is west of the shipwreck. Sams says it’s home to the endangered brown pelicans which are currently in nesting season. Without those oil booms, Sams says there’s nothing to protect the shorelines.

”For the life of me I don’t understand why anyone would do this,” Sams said.

In what feels like a never-ending nightmare, Sams just wants the removal of the ship done right.

”The timeline is already shot so we just want them to be as safe as possible,” he said.

Sams says crews have two more cuts to go; they’re expected to pick back up on the sixth cut next week at the earliest.