Latest news with #Tacoma
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
New bank enters Pierce County market with building purchase, financial center
A familiar piece of real estate in Tacoma's downtown has attracted a new owner as an Eastern Washington-based bank enters the Pierce County and South Sound market. The building that most recently served as headquarters for Tacoma-based Commencement Bank, 1102 Commerce St., has been acquired by Spokane-based Washington Trust Bank. In April 2024 brokers announced that Commencement was moving operations to 1313 Broadway, leasing its space from X2Capital, LLC, affiliated with local developers John and Luke Xitco. The Commerce Street building's seller is an LLC affiliated with a local investor and Horizon Partners Northwest, which owns/manages various downtown commercial properties including Brewery Blocks. The LLC originally purchased the site in 1999 from U.S. Bank. The site sold for $3.25 million, according to records filed with the county July 30. Washington Trust Bank is the largest privately held full-service commercial bank in the Northwest. It has $11 billion in assets and more than 40 branches and offices in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. It has approximately 1,200 employees across its network. Washington Trust said in a release that specific plans for the newly acquired Tacoma building 'will be announced at a later date, as they are finalized.' 'Our commitment to the Greater Puget Sound region has grown steadily over the last 25 years, and we are pleased to see it culminate in a dedicated, physical presence in the heart of Tacoma,' Kevin Blair, president of Washington Trust Bank, said in a statement. Blair added that 'our investment in Tacoma not only brings services closer to our valued customers in South Puget Sound communities, but fills a void for individuals and businesses in the area who have seen too many other banks consolidate or close their doors… .' Full service Tacoma financial center also in works In its release, Washington Trust Bank also said that it plans to introduce a full-service financial center at 950 Pacific Ave. (the Rust Building), this fall. 'Current and new clients in the area will have in-person access to local relationship bankers offering a broad spectrum of commercial, small business, mortgage, private, and retail banking as well as wealth management services,' according to the bank's release. Senior vice president and team leader Sarah Howard of Washington Trust Bank spoke Thursday with The News Tribune about the bank's plans and how it unfolded. Howard is responsible for managing Washington Trust's commercial banking portfolios, branch leadership and growth in South Sound. 'We were in the process of setting up the financial center, and the opportunity to purchase the building came up,' Howard said. 'It was a pretty quick transaction, so they need some time to do some assessment and what will work there and what changes they may need to make. 'The likelihood is that our first opening would be at 950 Pacific Avenue,' she added. This is the bank's first foray into Pierce County. Howard noted that plans have been in the works for awhile. 'The bank was doing their due diligence on how and where and when they should deploy some expansion,' she said. 'They opened a branch in Vancouver last November.' With the next closest branches being in King County, 'there was a lot of work done behind the scenes with our executive team about where would make sense (to expand), and Pierce County kind of hit the top of the list,' she said. The financial center and Commerce Street sites likely won't be the end of the bank's growth in the county, she noted. 'Typically how the bank will do an expansion is they start with a financial center, which is kind of a hub. That's what downtown Tacoma will be,' she explained. 'From there, then they'll figure out where some of the retail branches need to be located,' she added.
Auto Blog
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
2026 Cadillac LYRIQ-V First Drive: Is the Extra Velocity Worth An Extra $12-20k?
The fastest around As I sat in the media center of the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington, listening to Cadillac engineers talk about the new Lyriq-V EV being the 'quickest Cadillac ever,' my mind immediately went to the Blackwing. Then, as I sipped more of my coffee and consumed more calories, I realized there was a difference between the 'fastest' and the 'quickest.' The 'V' part of the equation, which stands for 'Velocity,' is more than just a performance package or a party trick. Cadillac updated the battery thermal control system, suspension improvements, increased braking, faster electronic steering, and changes to the battery discharge current were made to accommodate all 100 extra horses (yes–that means 615 horsepower over 515). While all those changes and improvements mean Cadillac took a 0-60 time of 3.3 seconds very seriously, it also means a pretty dramatic increase in cost compared to the base Lyriq, which was already a fairly quick EV. The base Lyriq's price range is from $60,090 to $72,490, while the Lyriq-V starts at $80,090 and maxes out at $85,290 for the Premium model. Those are price differences of $20,000 and $12,800 (they do qualify for the $7,500 tax credit since it's built in Tennessee, but that's for as long as that incentive lasts). Do all those improvements, paired with 'V-Mode,' justify the price difference? I was invited by Cadillac to Seattle, Washington, to spend some time behind the wheel of one and find out. The Cadillac Lyriq was already good, now it's better The Cadillac Lyriq, even as the base AWD model, is an amazing feat of engineering and design. Even though it's an EV, it still carries over design aspects of classic Caddies, like the rear taillights, the headlights, and the front fascia. The interior, despite being very performance-luxury focused, was buttoned up and tidy with a touch of poshness, leather, and, of course, large, responsive, and vibrant screens almost spanning the entire width of the SUV. The seating position isn't too high, nor is it too low; visibility is excellent, and it has a lot of personality. The base model is no cheap pony, either. The AWD model, for either the Sport or the Luxury trim, comes with 515 horsepower and a 0-60 time of 4.6 seconds. In RWD, it comes with 365 horsepower and can get to 60 mph from a stop in 5.7 seconds. In rear-wheel drive, you get the most range at 326 miles. All-wheel drive still comes with an impressive range of 319 miles, and the Lyriq-V, with its power increase and performance upgrades, has the least amount of range at 285 miles on a full charge. Some might cringe at that figure, but other performance EVs have similar, if not worse, ranges. The Tesla Model Y Performance, for instance, is said to have a range of 277 miles, but most owners or reviewers report an average of 230 miles of range on a full charge. The BMW iX has a range of around 264 miles. The only other EVs that have better reported ranges are the Acura ZDX Type S at 294 miles (though when I reviewed it, I got 310), and the Mercedes-Benz EQS 450 with 312 miles and AWD. The Acura ZDX is a nice EV, but not nearly as fast, and the Mercedes-Benz is a lot more expensive than the Cadillac (think six figures for this one). Super Cruise is also very hard to pass up, as it's one of the most accurate, fluid, and user-friendly hands-free driving experiences out there. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. Source: Kristen Brown From the outside, there's not much difference between the Lyriq-V and the standard Lyriq, and that's kind of what I love about it. It looks exactly like a regular ol' Lyriq, but it packs a much bigger punch. Interior-wise, there's no difference either, except for a fat 'V' button on the steering wheel. Pushing it can activate either Comp mode or Velocity mode, which comes with all the performance perks, paired with 615 horsepower, and my personal favorite: launch control. Launch control is any EV is a blast–but the Caddy would be a favorite at any party That's mostly because you can launch it again, and again, and again, and again, and get to sixty in 3.3 seconds (though The Drive's Joel Feder scored a 3.0 during his time behind the wheel) without worrying about overheating the battery. The updated thermal control system has been updated to keep the motors and battery cool before they heat up from multiple launches or pushing it on backcountry roads. As I mentioned before, the suspension setup is more performance-oriented and designed to be able to handle the V's heft. In 'Tour' mode, it softens up a bit so it's better for daily driving scenarios, too. Source: Kristen Brown Anyway, I launched the Lyriq-V three times. I pressed the 'V' button on the steering wheel, put it in drive, and waited for launch control to activate. Once I saw 'Launch Control Ready' on the large 33-inch display, I was prompted to put my foot on the brake. Once I did that, I felt the Lyriq-V hunker down. Then the engineer told me to floor it when I'm ready for 'take off,' and all I could think about was SpongeBob saying, 'Floor it?' I did just that and flew down the track. I'll admit it, I screamed involuntarily each time, but I came out of the EV smiling, giggling, and shaking a little bit each time. Despite feeling like I was being launched into space, the Lyriq was steady, controlled, and easy to manipulate. The brakes and tires worked in tandem to slow me down incredibly quickly, and it was ready for another run. I watched six other journalists make multiple runs without the Caddie's brakes, battery, or motors needing a cool-off break. Every single time it was launched, the driver was able to drive it back up to the starting line and immediately run it again. If you pulled up to a party in this and mentioned your EV could go 0-60 in 3.3 seconds, consistently, and for multiple runs after easily getting it into launch mode, you would easily become everyone's favorite guest. An autocross section showed off the other enhancements After we all got our blood pumping and adrenaline flowing with the 0-60 test, we were shuttled to the next (and most fun) part of the experience: an autocross section. Several tight turns, acceleration and braking sections, as well as back-to-back turns, helped us understand how the changes to the suspension, steering, throttle response, and brake torque vectoring work in tandem to make the Lyriq a true thoroughbred. Cadillac explained that when it's put into Comp (short for 'competition,' naturally) mode, the AWD system is designed to apply wheel brake pressure in a corner to transfer torque to the outside wheels to simulate a limited-slip differential. It can also help you break the back end loose to get a few drifts in here and there. All controlled, of course. Source: Kristen Brown The Cadillac Lyriq-V weighs around 5,990 lbs with AWD, but you wouldn't know it the way it handled that autocross track. Driver after driver slung it around, and even those with no autocross experience (like myself) were able to get in and feel like I could be a co-driver in the next WRC event. Those with experience truly shone and were able to employ every upgrade beautifully, and it was truly fun to watch. It felt like a gutted, fully-built track car, without looking like one. You can drive around with leather, a fancy sound system, and a large screen, and fling it around in an autocross with your kids in the car without breaking a sweat or damaging anything in the process. Source: Kristen Brown That's something Cadillac continued to stress: the Lyriq-V was designed to handle both your daily errands, as it has enough space for the whole family, and be able to hit the track within the same hour. After driving it through Washington's beautiful and dynamic mountain roads, I believe that. Final thoughts: Is all that and a bag of chips worth the price increase? The Cadillac Lyriq-V really, truly can do it all. With the range, drive modes, interior features, and creature comforts, it can handle the daily commute, errands, the school pick-up, and drop-off with ease. When you're bored of running the same rat race, you can put 'er into V or Comp mode (or both), and remember what it feels like to enjoy both life and the car you spent a very pretty penny on. I'd have to drive the standard AWD Lyriq to put my full weight into this answer, but I personally don't feel like 100 extra horsepower and all those performance upgrades are worth the extra $20,000 and $12,800 over the standard Lyriq. The AWD Lyriq Sport, on paper, has plenty of power and performance-oriented features to keep the average thrill-seeking family man (or woman) happy, and in this economy, it's very hard for me to justify that stark a price difference. Source: Kristen Brown Now, if you do have the financial means, a space for a charger, and you want something that really does have both feet in two different worlds, there are very few that wear both hats as well as the Cadillac Lyriq-V. Considering how many other performance-luxury EVs are out there, the price isn't as hard to swallow. I love the interior layout, and I can't wait to put my kids in one to test the Lyriq from a third angle. Additionally, it's a minor note, but the model I tested had Android Auto grandfathered in, and it's hard for me to imagine driving one without it. However, GM's in-house operating system isn't bad, and feels like a pretty seamless transition from Android Auto to their software. Apple users may have a harder time, but tech-intuitive folks would adjust quickly. About the Author Kristen Brown View Profile
Reuters
2 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Sounders sign homegrown M Snyder Brunell, 18
July 29 - The Seattle Sounders signed homegrown midfielder Snyder Brunell through 2028 with an option for 2029, the club announced Tuesday. The 18-year-old U.S. youth international has posted seven goals and nine assists in 59 matches with MLS NEXT Pro affiliate Tacoma Defiance. He also featured twice for the Sounders during the U.S. Open Cup. "Snyder's signing is another good reflection of the club's development system," Seattle general manager and chief soccer officer Craig Waibel said. "He has shown steady growth through our academy and with Tacoma ... and we believe he has the qualities to succeed at the next level." Brunell is the third Tacoma player signed by the Sounders this year, along with defender Kalani Kossa-Rienzi and forward Osaze De Rosario. "We're looking forward to having Snyder as a full member of the first team," coach Brian Schmetzer said. "His maturity on the ball and work ethic have really stood out during his time with the club. Snyder has earned this opportunity, and we are eager to see his continued development." --Field Level Media
The Citizen
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Toyota's 2027 small bakkie could be Corolla Cross or RAV4 based
Still unnamed junior sibling of the Hilux will be a unibody offering and possibly offer only hybrid powerplants. Toyota's much rumoured small bakkie, said to be based on the Corolla Cross, remains on track for arrival in 2027 despite little still being known. First mentioned in 2022 by senior Toyota executives in United States as becoming its entry-level bakkie below the Stateside sibling of the Hilux, the Tacoma, the still unnamed model has also been rumoured as possibly being based on the underpinnings of the RAV4 with power coming solely from hybrid powertrains. 'If there's a customer that needs a rugged, smaller body-on-frame vehicle, we can consider that, but if it's more for urban use and less extreme off-road, then it would make more sense to use the TNGA unibody platform,' Toyota Group North America Vice-President of Product Planning and Strategy, Cooper Ericksen, told MotorTrend at the time. A departure from the Hilux Champ/Hilux Rangga that uses the current Hilux and Fortuner's IMV 0 platform, the 'Corolla Cross bakkie' as it has been unofficially dubbed, will either use the TNGA-C platform, or, should it be based on the RAV4, the larger TNGA-K that also underpins the Camry as well as certain current Lexus models. Therefore, becoming a unibody product similar to the Ford Maverick, Honda Ridgeline and Hyundai Santa Cruz in the States, as well as the Ram Rampage, Chevrolet Montana and Fiat Toro in Brazil, a trademark submission for the Stout name is known to have been in Argentina where production could take place for Latin American markets. Supposedly previewed by the electric EPU Concept shown at the Tokyo Mobility Show two years ago, the most recent report alleged that Brazil has been given the go ahead at the Sorocaba Plant in the state of São Paulo for the commencing of production. According to the newest findings by Automotive News, a small bakkie still remains part of Toyota's plans, with 2027 still being mentioned as the year of the reveal. Despite the comparison with the Corolla Cross, whose biggest powertrain displaces 2.0-litres with and without hybrid assistance depending, the supposed link-up with the RAV4 could yield a maximum of 2.5-litres, as well as a plug-in hybrid option. Showcased back in May, the new sixth generation RAV4 makes exclusive use of hybrid propulsion, with respective outputs of 166 kW and 174 kW, and 235 kW for the plug-in hybrid. By comparison, the smash-hit Maverick can be had with either a conventional 2.0-litre EcoBoost petrol or a self-charging 2.5-litre hybrid, while the Santa Cruz omits electrification completely by offering its own 2.5-litre unit with or without turbocharging. Completely the opposite is the Ridgeline, which uses a normally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 as its only option. Given the gradual emergence of rumours and speculative reports over the last three years, expect more to become apparent heading into 2026. NOW READ: Toyota Corolla Cross now rumoured to underpin new small bakkie
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
The U.S. government sold off aging ships — leaving states in the Pacific Northwest to pay the price
The Pacific Producer, a large abandoned vessel, docked in a waterway off Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Wash., as seen July 15, 2025. (Dan DeLong/InvestigateWest) This story was originally published by InvestigateWest, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to change-making investigative journalism. Sign up for their Watchdog Weekly newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Three years ago on a sunny day in August, a nearly 80-year-old steel, navy blue ship with patched holes and streaks of rust drifted down an inlet connecting downtown Tacoma to Commencement Bay. The 169-foot vessel was an unusual sight for local boaters who use the narrow channel to dock their small recreational watercraft. As it passed the Eleventh Street Bridge, the antennae of Pacific Producer got caught, causing its captain to lose control and frantically throw out an anchor to prevent a collision with other docked boats, according to eyewitness reports. The captain maneuvered it over to the closed Martinac shipbuilding facility and left it there for over a year, floating above an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site, an acres-long underwater protective barrier blanketing contamination of historical pollution from the rest of the Thea Foss waterway. Noticing the derelict vessel on patrol, the Tacoma Fire Department conducted an inspection. Upon entering a lower deck, the department's crew noted a smell of ammonia so strong 'it was felt in our eyes and nose.' That sounded the alarm for a myriad of federal, state and local agencies to respond. When Washington Department of Ecology officials arrived, they noticed water in the bottom of the ship that grew heavier each day. Now, the concern was that the Pacific Producer was sinking. Once response operations were completed, 25,000 gallons of oily water, 5,000 gallons of diesel, 3,500 pounds of ammonia, and 14,000 gallons of miscellaneous and oily waste had been removed, said Courtney Serad, lead spill responder with the Department of Ecology. The Coast Guard and the Department of Ecology spent nearly a million dollars removing the ammonia, oil and other hazardous waste — including human feces — aboard the ship. Once the vessel is demolished, Washington's Department of Natural Resources expects to have spent nearly $4 million on its demolition and also on moorage fees, on-site security due to trespassers, pest control and the remediation of hazardous materials. Abandoned and derelict vessels are quietly piling up in Washington and Oregon waterways, posing a threat to fragile marine ecosystems. At least 37 of these vessels in the Pacific Northwest, including the Pacific Producer, were formerly property of the Navy, Coast Guard or another federal agency, then bought by someone who later abandoned it. Together, these former government vessels have cost Washington state and Oregon over $21 million to remove and destroy. Vessel removal programs in Washington and Oregon are calling on the federal government to destroy its own decrepit vessels and to prevent them from getting into the public's hands. 'There's a lot of stories around these bigger vessels, and usually it starts out with the government selling it to somebody who doesn't have the capacity to really operate it,' said Doug Helton, retired regional operations supervisor at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who assisted Washington and states across the country in recovering large abandoned watercraft. 'We have a disposal process for a lot of things in our economy, but vessels — there isn't really a standard way of disposing of these.' These vessels become available to the public through various government agencies — most notably, the General Services Administration, a federal agency that manages and disposes of government property, according to ownership records. Often the ships leak oil, ammonia and other hazardous materials that state agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard are left to clean. All take up swaths of the states' budgets to remediate, remove and destroy. Of the 37 vessels owned or seized by the federal government to be flagged in the Pacific Northwest, at least 11 served in World War II. One of those was a minesweeper once used to detect and remove enemy mines from the ocean's depths. At least eight ships sank and haven't been recovered. The largest was a 384-foot ship designed to bring Army tanks to shore during the Vietnam War. That vessel would cost around $25 million to destroy, funds that Oregon doesn't have, said Josh Mulhollem, manager of the state's derelict vessel removal program. It sits abandoned in the Columbia River with bolted-in doors to prevent trespassers. Washington's Derelict Vessel Removal Program has an active inventory of 300 abandoned or derelict vessels. In just over 20 years, it has removed more than 1,200 vessels. A 2022 law allocating the program an additional stream of funding from a watercraft excise tax has broadened its capabilities, but even then, the program waited until the next biennium, which began this July, to destroy the Pacific Producer. Its total cost — $3.9 million — would have taken up nearly 40% of the program's $10.5 million biennial budget and restricted the agency's scope to manage the hundreds of other abandoned boats. Instead, the program opted to pay off the expenses over two separate budgets. But this ended up costing nearly $300,000 more. It paid to dock the ship at a Seattle marina for over a year with on-site security to prevent trespassers. A rat infestation also racked up pest control fees. 'My question for the federal government is, why are you selling these into private hands when you know that the vessels are at the end of their life?' said Troy Wood, the manager of Washington's Derelict Vessel Removal Program who is part of a national workgroup dedicated to the issue and has helped other state agencies create their own program. Before private ownership, the former government vessels flagged or removed in Washington and Oregon were property of various agencies like the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Division, the U.S. Treasury Department, or the U.S. Department of Commerce. Records obtained by InvestigateWest show that at least 17 were formerly operated by the U.S. Navy. Six were with the U.S. Coast Guard. Two were former Canadian military vessels. One, the Hero, was the last wooden icebreaker in Antarctica, formerly owned by the National Science Foundation. Most records don't show how the vessels were transferred from the government to the public. Those familiar with the process for distributing federal surplus materials say it is deeply flawed. Once an old ship is put up for public auction, just about anybody can bid. There are often no requirements that bidders carry insurance or have the financial ability to properly care for an old, broken-down vessel. In 2017, the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan research agency that investigates government agencies at the request of Congress, issued an audit report on the Department of Defense's process for disposing of sensitive equipment. The GAO posed as a fake federal law enforcement agency and was accepted in a surplus property program. Diana Maurer, director of the defense capabilities and management team at the Government Accountability Office, said DOD officials missed several opportunities to verify the agency's legitimacy. 'No one called us to double-check the fictitious information we provided,' she said. 'Among other things, we gave a phony agency name, a phony address and phony legal authorities that purported to be in the U.S. Code. A simple phone call or Google search could have confirmed that we were not who we said we were.' After the audit was released, the DOD took 'quick action to close the loopholes' that allowed the GAO to obtain military equipment, Maurer added. The GAO's fake agency was able to obtain over 100 controlled items — sensitive equipment not to be released to the general public — worth an estimated $1.2 million. Although none of these items were vessels, the report highlights the DOD's — which includes the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard — largely unregulated approval process to buy up surplus property. In the case of the Pacific Producer, the U.S. Marshals Service sold the ship twice to the same owner hiding behind shell companies following lawsuits spurred by unpaid debts. Each time the Marshals Service stripped it of all liens and the owner bought the boat back with a clean title. Since the final purchase of the vessel in 2007, it acquired over $1 million in unpaid liens and hundreds of thousands of dollars of fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The owner did not respond to inquiries from InvestigateWest. Under Washington law, the owner of an abandoned or derelict vessel is responsible to reimburse the state Department of Natural Resources and any other authorized public entity for costs associated with surveying the vessel, disposal and any environmental damage. If left unpaid, the DNR can place liens on the owner's assets and take the owner to court. But Wood, the manager of Washington's derelict vessel removal program, says that more often than not, the owner leaves the state or becomes untraceable, leaving the state to foot the bill. The General Services Administration, a federal agency that manages the excess property of other federal agencies, regularly sells older vessels from the Navy and Coast Guard. The process goes like this: When a federal agency decides to dispose of a vessel, it's first offered to other federal agencies. If it doesn't draw interest there, the offer extends to state and municipal agencies. If there still aren't any takers, that's where the GSA's public auction comes in. InvestigateWest reviewed over 100 online sale listings of previous auctions in Washington state. The listings date back only to 2016 but offer a glimpse into typical vessel sales. Only 10 had thorough inspection reports. The majority listed a slew of issues. Vessels were often heavily corroded, sold without an engine or had water leaking into the hull. Two former Navy boats were listed as having engines with excessive heat problems to the point where 'insulation will begin to smoke.' Three were built in the 1940s. One of those, a 66-foot old Navy tug, sold for just $10,000. It was not inspected and its listing states, 'Boat Is In The Water. This Does Not Imply A Warranty Or Guarantee That The Boat Is Operational.' It also states the bidder is responsible for the disposal of oil accumulated on the boat. None of the listings had stringent bidder requirements such as proving valid insurance or the financial means to care for the boat. People in the boating world familiar with this issue call the buyers of these boats 'dreamers' with big plans to create an ecotourism business, museum, fishing boat, venue or new home. 'Someone would say, 'That's cool, we could make a nice yacht out of that' and then realize, 'Wait a minute, the Coast Guard, with all their resources and manpower, couldn't keep this boat operational,'' Helton said. 'How was some guy with a pickup truck and a shoestring budget gonna keep it afloat?' Not all auctioned vessels cause environmental pollution. Some are successfully repaired and continue to operate safely in Washington's waters. But many do not realize the burden or cost of caring for these old ships. Sometimes half the battle is finding a part that hasn't been manufactured in over 50 years. Sometimes people build their own parts or give up and resell the boat. Then, somehow, they get abandoned and often sink. 'A 140-foot boat should cost more than $50,000,' said Mulhollem, manager of Oregon's derelict vessel removal program. Over half of the vessels sold by the GSA in Washington came from the Navy, Coast Guard and Army. The Navy has sold more than any other agency in Washington. Sometimes the Navy sells old ships to foreign allied militaries, sometimes it turns them into museums or artificial reefs. The Navy's decision to send a vessel to the GSA 'is primarily based on their inability to meet current mission requirements,' according to a Navy spokesperson. The Navy did not disclose to InvestigateWest why it doesn't destroy its own vessels. The Hero was an out-of-service Antarctic research vessel acquired by an oceanic foundation in Oregon with plans to make it the focal point of a larger Antarctic 'exploratorium.' It was bought at a General Services Administration auction in 1985 for $5,000. When plans fell through, the vessel was resold, then sold at least another four times as new owners failed to make the vessel viable. In 2017, after the Hero's last two owners had stripped the ship of parts to turn a profit, the boat sank at the mouth of the Palix River, a waterway that sustains one of the state's largest oyster farming areas. It cost the Washington Derelict Vessel Removal Program over $3.7 million to remove and destroy it. 'Took us awhile to get the funding, but we eventually did,' Wood said. 'A million of it was for environmental cleanup because we went in and vacuumed the riverbed.' Every vessel carries aboard some mixture of hazardous materials. All carry necessities like motor oils, flares and batteries. When an old damaged vessel is left abandoned, it may leak hazardous materials without anyone reporting it to authorities. 'The toughest spills we face where we get the worst pollution recovery results are spills that are not reported in a timely manner,' said Byers, the oil response manager at Washington's Department of Ecology. 'In some cases, the oil spreads out… so thin that our response efforts might actually cause more environmental harm than good. We have to literally remove the environment to get the oil with it.' Found on all vessels for fire protection, but in even larger quantities on larger vessels, are flame retardants containing polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which accumulate in an animal's body and are considered toxic. It hasn't been widely studied in natural environments like the ocean, but one controlled study found PBDEs to diminish reproduction in fish. 'A lot of the damage is under the water surface and invisible,' Byers said. 'It's occurring, but it's not obvious.' Other hazardous materials can include fishing nets, steering gear, cleaning products, fire extinguishers, hydraulic oil and lubricants. Fishing vessels, like the Pacific Producer, carry ammonia used as refrigerant and chlorine as decontamination material, said Helton, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a recent webinar. Some vessels, he said, would store fuel in chain lockers and other void spaces aboard in order to maximize time at sea without having to refill, increasing the amount of hazardous material that could end up in the ocean. Researchers say it's nearly impossible to quantify how much abandoned and derelict vessels have polluted Washington's waters. The pollution isn't as constant as commercial vessel traffic or stormwater runoff, but spills from abandoned vessels have the potential to harm the environment they're left in for years. Last year, California U.S. Rep. John Garamendi introduced the Abandoned and Derelict Vessels Act of 2024. The federal bill didn't pass, but one provision was tacked on to the National Defense Authorization Act, the military spending bill Congress passes each year. It established requirements for purchasing federally auctioned vessels, including verifying that the prospective buyer holds proper insurance and has adequate financial resources to care for the vessel. But, so far, the message hasn't gotten out. Some parties involved with removal of former government vessels were not aware of this provision, the GSA has not included the requirement in its current boat listings and GSA sales employees were not aware of this law. 'I think it's beneficial legislation,' said Mulhollem, who oversees Oregon's vessel removal program. 'I don't think it solves all the issues — I mean insurance and means to take care of a vessel can be temporary.' There isn't an agreed on solution to this problem, Mulhollem added. These larger abandoned vessels are 'complicated pieces of waste that no one is equipped' to handle. Other failed provisions in Rep. Garamendi's original bill also called on the government to create a database of all abandoned and derelict vessels across the country and to authorized the Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers to remove those vessels. 'Maybe the government shouldn't be selling them at all… or maybe they should be trying to figure out some other way to dispose of them,' said Helton, the retired operations supervisor at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The U.S. government rarely destroys its own ships. Shipbreaking is a dangerous and labor intensive job. Laborers remove hazardous materials onboard and cut a boat to pieces to later be sold for scrap. There are only three shipbreakers in the country authorized to do business with the U.S. government, and all are located in Brownsville, Texas, where wages are low, and the Environmental Protection Agency imposes strict rules. 'Depending on the weight of the vessel, our cost to process a vessel is going to be somewhere in the region of $200 per ton plus any remediation fees,' said Jeremy Kirchin, chief executive officer of Scrap Metal Services, LLC, one of the nation's three government-authorized shipbreakers. He said that old U.S. Navy ships from Seattle commonly make the journey to his facility. First, they must be repaired to be seaworthy enough for a last voyage to the southernmost point of Texas, bordering Mexico. The 5,500-nautical-mile journey takes ships down the Pacific Coast, through the Panama Canal up and then through the Gulf of Mexico to Texas. That trip takes over 20 days and often costs over $1 million. But not all vessels are even worth the journey to destroy. 'It's a life cycle issue,' Helton said. 'That's sort of the dirty secret, is that sometimes it's easier to sell a vessel for cheap than it is to actually properly dispose of it.' After its multi-agency cleanup in the Thea Foss waterway, the Department of Natural Resources took possession of the Pacific Producer. Unable to give up over half of its biennium budget to destroy the vessel, the department has left it docked at a marina in Seattle since December 2023, racking up nearly $300,000 in moorage, security and pest control fees at Foss Maritime. Last month, it was taken to a concrete facility in Tacoma that has a dry dock where it will be destroyed this summer. The Department of Natural Resources waited until July this year to get more funding. Destruction will take a month to complete and cost over $1 million. The contractor responsible for disposal will recycle as much material as possible. Assuming that happens according to schedule, it will have taken nearly two years and nearly $5 million to safely remediate and destroy the Pacific Producer. InvestigateWest ( is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Reporter Aspen Ford, a Roy W. Howard fellow, can be reached at aspen@ Solve the daily Crossword
