More than a thousand abandoned boats are disintegrating along British Columbia's coastline, leaking plastic pollutants into the oceans, and a local non-profit is struggling to remove them faster than they're appearing.
by CBC News
John Roe, operations director of the Dead Boat Disposal Society, has been cleaning up derelict boats from B.C.'s waters for more than 25 years.
Along with similar groups, the Dead Boat Disposal Society has been working closely with government officials as plans are underway to look for more innovative solutions to deal with abandoned vessels.
"Our oceans have been overlooked," Roe said. "We've got to treat this as a waste management issue."
The federal government estimates that there are about 1,400 abandoned boats in B.C., but Roe says there are at least a thousand more beyond that.
It's not just the boats themselves that are the problem: it's all the pollutants seeping into the environment like fuel, oil and plastics.
"The boat is usually the focus for everybody because that's what you see," said Roe. "But it's everything associated with the boat."