An Open Letter to the PSA
Three Sheets NW recently wrote an article on PSA’s demand for settlement fees to avoid litigation against local boat yards over environmental violations.
Quoting the Three Sheets NW article:
None of the suits has gone to litigation, Beckman said. All have been settled out of court, with the PSA collecting about $1.2 million in settlements ranging from $500 to $100,000. Beckman said all of those funds have been given to third-party organizations to fund environmental remediation projects.
“We don’t keep any of the settlement money,” he said. “That has been our board policy from the beginning of our enforcement work.”
The settlement amounts being discussed with the five boatyards are rumored to be in the $50,000 range. Beckman wouldn’t comment on specific amounts, but said the settlements will be less than $100,000.
“Some of these folks are claiming economic distress, and we’ll take that into account,” he said. “We’re not trying to drive anybody out of business.”
It should seem obvious that, if indeed PSA wanted to work with boatyards that they’d issue a “clean up to avoid litigation” threat instead of a “settle out of court or face litigation” extortion demand. Which would be better, $50K spent by the yards cleaning up or $50K given to the PSA? I think that answer is obvious.
As a boat owner, live-aboard and environmentalist I find the PSA’s move appalling; embarrassing to all environmentalists and nothing short of extortion. It’s counter productive, antagonistic and does nothing to solve the actual problem.
I (Ben Wiseley on http://westsail28.com slip K-18) know many people in the marine industry. They’ve got it very, very, very hard these days. This kind of thing will harm a lot of people; both boat owners and the people who work on boats. If you think what the PSA is doing is wrong, let them know. The head of extortion over there is:
Bob Beckman, Puget Soundkeeper & Executive Director can be reached at 206-297-7002 or bob@pugetsoundkeeper.org
I’ll be contacting people I know in the government as well as the legal industry to see what, if anything I can do to either stop this action or strike back at the PSA until they do the right thing for the environment as well as the community.
Shame on you PSA.
Lividly,
Ben Wiseley
