It’s one of the most complicated issues Heidi Eisenhour deals with in her job as county commissioner.
“There are many jurisdictions involved and the counties are the least involved …
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It’s one of the most complicated issues Heidi Eisenhour deals with in her job as county commissioner.
“There are many jurisdictions involved and the counties are the least involved in it,” she told The Leader when asked about the sinking of an 83-foot retired Coast Guard cutter in Hadlock Bay, near Irondale Beach earlier this month.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was the first to respond on the scene but ultimately the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will be responsible for the ecological mitigation, including salvage of the 1944 ship, which was already on their Inventory of Vessels of Concern and listed its location as Seabeck, below 9950 Mystery Point Road.
Eisenhour serves on the county’s Maritime Resources committee and its Derelict Vessels subcommittee but notes that the county’s jurisdiction stays fairly close to land.
“Well, I did help in the removal of a boat from underneath the bridge on Indian Island. We declared it an emergency and the county, with the help of Roger Slade, took the lead along with Star Marine and they removed it,” she explained, adding that boat was sunk on tidelands, which allowed the county to declare the emergency.
In an email to her fellow team members, Eisenhour wrote that the boat is apparently owned by the same person as the MV Cardias.
“On Sept. 8, 2023, JCSO received a report of suspicious circumstances near Lower Hadlock Bay. The caller reported seeing debris floating in the bay consistent with a potential sunken vessel. Deputies responded and located the vessel actively leaking diesel fuel from about 48 feet below the surface,” she wrote in her email.
Jerry Farmer, with DNR’s Derelict Vessel Removal Program, told The Leader that he had just learned about the sinking and would respond when they had further information.
Eisenhour grew up on a commercial fishing boat, salmon trolling with her father who operated in southeast Alaska. She was instrumental in the capital campaign to build the Maritime Center and was their chief operating officer before being elected to this, her first term, as county commissioner.
