Local harbormasters look to sink Coast Guard proposal to scrap buoys

A proposal by the U.S. Coast Guard to scrap hundreds of buoys along the Northeast coastline, including dozens in Connecticut waters, is being met with outright skepticism by local harbormasters and others who question the wisdom of removing the tried-and-true navigational aids. The Coast Guard is collecting public input on a plan to remove 350 buoys — which represent about 6% of the 5,640 federally maintained devices — in favor of a "modern approach to physical aids to navigation," it said in a May 2 notice. The removal map includes six in the Thames River, a mix of harbor and lighted versions in the New London harbor area, as well as a Millstone Power Plant mooring buoy off Waterford. Several buoys and markers that guide sailors in and out of Stonington Harbor and near Watch Hill are also on the removal list, a proposal greeted with incredulity by Stonington Harbormaster Eric Donch, a state-certified safe boating instructor. "We were told a half-dozen markers at the approach of the harbor, which mark reefs off Watch Hill and Stonington, are listed for removal," he said Tuesday. "It's definitely a bad idea. There's some nasty rock formations out there and, especially in the summer, the waters are used by people going back-and-forth to Block Island, Newport and other places." Coast Guard officials said the buoy placements predate current satellite and electronic guidance, navigation and charting systems which are "widely available and affordable." The proposed change also aims to "manage vessel transit risk to acceptable levels at acceptable costs," while addressing satellite and electronic failures. "A sustainable buoy system ensures safety and efficiency, even during disruptions or technology failures," Matthew Stuck, the First Coast Guard District's chief of waterways management, said in a media release. Cmdr. Judson Wheeler, the First Coast Guard District's Marine Transportation System chief, said in a Wednesday email the "Buoy Modernization initiative" aims to improve efficiencies while maintaining an "appropriate and acceptable level of safety for mariners." "This effort did not and has not been driven by cost," he wrote. "The project was driven by the need to assess the overall system. We are committed to buoy system sustainability to ensure high servicing standards in perpetuity, this commitment requires periodic assessment and adjustment." Wheeler said the agency recognizes the "discontinuation of buoys rightfully raises concerns from a variety of waterway users and thus we are also committed to enabling mariner input in the process." One of the few specific reasons given by the Coast Guard for a buoy removal involved WR30A, a "wreck buoy" that highlighted the presence of an underwater obstruction in the upper Thames River. An updated survey by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed "no obstruction exists at or near this aid to navigation." Donch and others said the Coast Guard is assuming all boaters possess in-board or phone-based navigation systems — and that they won't fail. "The bottom-line is it's a cost-saving measure, but the problem with electronics is they go away at the worst possible time," Donch said. "I teach that electronics are fine, but boaters also need to know how to read a chart and use buoys to make sure they're in safe waters." The Coast Guard is accepting emailed feedback on its buoy-removal plan at D01-SMB-DPWPublicComments@uscg.mil through mid-June. Participants are asked to include the size and type of their vessels, along with how and at what point during a voyage they use buoys. Wheeler said "many" comments had already been received as of this month. "And will continue to accept them until June 13, at which point we will review and assess comments and subsequently republish if necessary," Wheeler said. Members of New London's Port Authority and Harbor Management Commission on May 8 voted to send a letter to the Coast Guard opposing the proposal, said Barbara Neff, the city's dockmaster. "They tried to do something like this 10 years ago," she said. "The problem is, what if your GPS goes out? Is someone's safety worth it just to save some money?" Some of the Coast Guard's fleet of tenders are tasked with inspecting and maintaining the thousands of buoys bobbing throughout U.S. waters. Those tenders pull up to buoys — which can weigh more than 13,000 pounds — and use cranes and chains to haul them up from their underwater moorings. The buoys are placed on decks where the barnacles and other sea debris are scraped off. Richard Thayer, Norwich's harbormaster, said the Coast Guard's removal proposal is predicated on a massive — and faulty — assumption. "Not everyone has GPS," he said. "You've got break walls up and down the Thames River and, if you go out of channel, there's rocks. Even with the buoys, you're seeing two or three boat crashes a year." j.penney@theday.com