A marine salvage company plans to remove the wreckage of the New Carissa from the surf at Coos Bay's North Spit. Its removal plan calls for closing public access to two roads to the area and that's got some local folks fuming. - World Photo by Madeline Steege

When the New Carissa ran aground in the surf near Coos Bay’s North Spit about eight years ago, it quickly became a destination for tourists, a concern for environmentalists and a headache for state officials.

Now, a request by the ship’s salvager to close public access on part of the spit is drawing criticism and scorn from some local residents and county officials.

The project

The New Carissa ran aground on Feb. 4, 1999, while waiting to enter Coos Bay. The ship broke apart, spilling an estimated 70,000 to 140,000 gallons of fuel oil into the surrounding waters. While the bow was being towed out to sea, a towline broke, causing the bow to drift north and run aground at Waldport, before finally being towed to sea and sunk. The stern remains near Horsfall Beach.

Titan Maritime is scheduled to begin dismantling the wreck sometime in March. The project is expected to take eight weather-working months and cost the state about $16 million, according to records from the Oregon Department of State Lands.

The plan from Titan involves the use of two barges that would be placed near the wreck. The barges would be used by crews removing portions of the ship. A staging area would encompass about a quarter-acre onshore, approximately 1,000 feet from the New Carissa, near the dune line. There would be a 40-foot-tall tower, which would include cables for an aerial transport to take crews to and from the wreckage site. In addition, the company could include one or two 20-foot containers to be used as offices, several 20-foot storage containers, a parking area and heavy machinery including cranes, bulldozers and excavators, according to documents from HDR Engineering Inc. and State Lands. Both the barges and the staging area would be manned 24 hours a day for the length of the project.

Closure

Titan wants to close several roads for the duration of the project, said Linda Petterson, realty specialist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Coos Bay District. The closures, to set up the staging area and provide emergency access or escape routes for crews working on the project, would restrict public access on South Dike Road and Foredune Road.

In addition, the company wants a 100-yard buffer surrounding the staging area, restricting all public access, said Carol Snead, senior environmental project manager at HDR Engineering, an Omaha, Neb.-based engineering and consulting firm. The North Spit Road, which runs along the bay side of the spit, would remain open, Snead said.

Titan is required to prepare an environmental assessment of potential impacts of the closure and staging area on BLM lands. HDR is handling the environmental assessment, which involves reviewing the proposed project and the effect the plan could have on plants, animals and water surrounding the area. The company took public comments through Friday. When a draft EA is released, another two-week period will follow for public comment before a final report is issued.

Then, BLM will make a decision whether to close the roads to public access. Options could include denying the request, granting only a part-time closure, or restricting public access completely, said Megan Harper, BLM public affairs specialist.

Officials at the Oregon Department of State Lands contend the roads should be closed to all traffic.

“The reason that road (would) be closed is because of public safety,” said Julie Curtis, communication manager at the Department of State Lands. Danger to the public could come from machinery at the site, including the aerial tramway. The state is working with BLM to work out details.

But the BLM would have the final say about the road closures, she added.

Local reaction

Titan’s plan to close the roads around the area doesn’t make much sense to Coos Bay resident Donna Bishop.

“I personally don’t see any reason for the closure,” she said, “but I can see (why) they wouldn’t want anybody in their way.”

Bishop is the chairwoman of the South Coast Chapter of Oregon Equestrian Trails, a nonprofit group responsible for setting up and maintaining riding trails in the area. The group recently completed work on a system of trails on the North Spit. One trailhead is located about a half-mile down the South Dike Road.

According to a letter from HDR sent to about 150 residents and several agencies in the area, “the need to close these roads to non-project vehicles is based on the need to maintain emergency access” and an evacuation route for workers. The company did not specify what kind of events would constitute an emergency.

Bishop is unconvinced.

“The only way an ambulance is going to get out there is if it has four-wheel drive,” she said.

Coos County Commissioner John Griffith doesn’t like Titan’s plan to close portions of Foredune Road, either.

Residents of Coos County were not compensated for the nearly eight months time they couldn’t use the beaches on the North Spit after the shipwreck, Griffith said — and they should have been.  

“The state of Oregon, for whom Titan Maritime will be contracting, never attempted to make the citizens of Coos County whole, especially those who lost access to the North Spit, and for other local government costs incurred during the New Carissa debacle,” he stated in a letter to HDR.

Griffith said the state often moves without considering the impact on local residents.

“I don’t think a majority of our people are going to be OK with it,” he said.

Griffith suggested the company widen the Foredune Road and keep a tow truck at the staging area in case the company needs to remove a vehicle from the road, leaving public access open. The other option: Just drive around the disabled vehicle.

Griffith contends the county has leverage in the debate of whether to close the roadways. The salvage company must use a county-owned road, the TransPacific Parkway, to go to and from the staging area. He said it’s possible the county could close the road for safety, allowing access to local residents by permit only. Those working for the company would not receive permits.  

“They want to talk about safety; well, we can, too,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to hurt them. They’re (more likely) going to hurt us.”

Griffith also has concerns about nearby snowy plover habitat, which lies on the beach just south of the New Carissa. In his letter to HDR, he stated he intends “to make sure managing agencies hold Titan Maritime to the same rigid standards they hold the recreating public regarding snowy plover management.”

State officials are aware of the balance between the project, habitat and curious residents interested in watching the salvage, Curtis said.

“Snowy plover habitat adds another layer of challenge,” she added.

Bishop is worried about what effect the road closures would have on other North Spit users. A number of hikers, tourists and birdwatchers visit the area, especially during the summer months, Bishop said.

For Griffith, the closure of the road would mean that surfers and surf fisherman would have to walk with their equipment miles to the beaches.

Most of the salvage work would happen between March and November, depending on the weather. Bishop doubted Titan could accomplish the work in that time, given the ever-changing conditions in the area. She speculated the entire cleanup could take years.

Representatives from Titan Maritime declined to be interviewed for this story, referring all questions through the company’s client, the Oregon Department of State Lands.