Larry W4CSC wrote:

I noticed a strong smell of diesel fuel in the air,

Deja vu all over again!

A version of the same thing has happened at my marina three times in the
past year. I say a version because the organizations that consume my
taxes for their own amusement were even less interested than your local
defenders.

The crew of a nearby fishing boat (a Bering Sea crabber) were shifting
gear on deck and blew out a hydraulic line. It dumped around 20 gallons
of oil over the side through a scupper before they shut down the system.
They saw the oil on the water, and hydraulic oil on water is a real
mess, worse than diesel in my opinion, and what did they do? They simply
hauled ass, left the boat and the dock and never looked back! This was
in broad daylight!

Tried to call the Coast Guard spill response number and got routed
instead to some "Fatherland Sekurity" hotline ... I don't want the
Gestapo, I wanted a spill response team to spend some of my tax money
and clean the stuff up. Called the water cops, they directed me from one
number to another until I was disconnected. Screw it.

The same thing, another crabber with a broken hydraulic line, someone
else managed to get the teenage Coasties to show up and even showed them
the slick on the side of the crabber but that wasn't enough evidence for
the defenders to board the thing and get samples of the "suspected'
source. Nothing happened, no cleanup, no followup.

Last week I came home to the smell of fresh diesel permeating the
marina. Pools of red diesel were backed up against the opposite side of
the dock and a sheen was all around my boat. This was an exact repeat of
an event the week before which I did nothing about but this time I was
annoyed that it occurred again and decided to report it (after making
sure it wasn't from MY boat.)

I didn't even bother to call the federal Gestapo, I called the water
cops and surprisingly enough they said they would notify the Coast Guard
and then transferred me to the fire department for some reason. The fire
department asked a few relevant questions and then said they would be
down to look at it.

A few minutes later a fire truck showed up with the guys in turnout gear
and three of them came on the dock and looked around. They asked a few
questions and made small talk about boats and boating. They said there
was nothing they could do (no kidding) but that the Coast Guard had been
notified and would probably be down soon. They were very cheerful, made
their farewells and then drove away.

The Coasties never showed up or called. The diesel finally drifted down
toward the locks and the Sound and so far as I know no one was the least
bit inconvenienced but the fish and clams.

This spill was either an overfueling or someone has a bilge full of
diesel and it gets pumped over automatically every week or so. I guess
despite all the dire threats and enormous public funding of enforcement
agencies and cleanup contractors none of the alphabet agencies really
want to go as far as the Carolina Coasty and get their shoes dirty and
find the source.

Makes it kind of hard to take any of them seriously doesn't it?

Rick