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Police warn of sewage and safety risks from derelict and live‑aboard boats in Liberty Bay
Summary
Police marine patrol reported 35–40 boats anchored in Liberty Bay, including roughly a dozen live‑aboards; low uptake of pump‑out services, anchor‑light violations and potential environmental harm prompted use of Anchorage/derelict-vessel enforcement tools and coordination with Kitsap County and DNR.
The Poulsbo Police marine unit briefed council on a growing problem of anchored, derelict and live‑aboard vessels in Liberty Bay that present environmental and safety risks.
Sergeant Sean Zeman said drone and boat observations showed scores of boats clustered in the bay; he estimated approximately 35–40 boats, about 12 of which are live‑aboards. He highlighted low usage of paid pump‑out services and described direct impacts on shellfish harvesters: "The big one is the holding tank sewage pump out," he said, noting that only a small fraction of live‑aboards used the paid pump‑out service and that some vessels are not being maintained and risk sinking.
Zeman outlined existing enforcement tools: the Anchorage rule (which limits continuous anchoring to 30 consecutive days or no more than 90 days in a 365‑day period) can be enforced but requires daily observation to trigger the 30‑day measure; the penalty under that code is $99 per day, which officers said some boaters treat as a manageable cost. He also noted a provision in the city shoreline/master program that effectively prohibits live‑aboards outside marinas (living on a vessel for more than two months), an authority that carries stiffer penalties including possible criminal infraction fines (cited as up to $5,000 in the program). Zeman recommended closer coordination with Kitsap County, the Port of Poulsbo and the state DNR derelict‑vessel program, which can assist with the formal derelict‑vessel removal process and (if funds exist) reimburse local response costs.
Council members asked about pump‑out funding and use (the city previously supported a pump‑out subsidy) and about procedures to remove vessels that become an imminent environmental hazard; police said derelict‑vessel removal is a multi‑agency process that can be costly (staff cited an $8,000 disposal cost for a pulled, sunk boat) and slow if state funds are limited. Sergeant Zeman said the department would begin systematic enforcement and outreach and use the more stringent shoreline/live‑aboard prohibition as an additional enforcement option.
