Sunken boat at Eddings Point Boat Landing one of dozens to be plucked from water

A half-sunken shrimp boat partially blocking access to Jenkins Creek from the Eddings Point Boat Landing in St. Helena Island is one of dozens to soon be removed from Beaufort County waterways.

The boat washed up against the boat landing in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, deputy county administrator Josh Gruber said Monday.

The owner is “without resources to have the boat removed, which is the case for a lot of the boats” that were damaged by the storm and remain in the county’s marshes and waterways, he said.

But boaters who use public docks and landings have reason to be optimistic.

The sunken shrimp boat at Eddings Point and other storm-damaged watercraft around the county are likely to be removed within about a month, Gruber said.

The county is poised to embark on its long-delayed marine debris removal effort, which was stalled over a dispute with the state regarding who is responsible for getting rid of items such as sunken boats and battered docks. County officials estimate the cost for cleanup to exceed $5 million, but they say a large chunk of that total could be reimbursed by the state or the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“The county was sort of in limbo in terms of whose responsibility it was to take care of the debris,” Beaufort County Councilman York Glover said Monday.

But an opinion issued in late January by the South Carolina Attorney General’s office placed that responsibility squarely on the county’s shoulders.

Now that the issue is settled, “the county is moving forward to start the (marine debris removal) process as soon as possible,” Glover said.

The first step in that process is locating all of the debris, county leaders say.

Gruber said the county and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources already have identified at least 20 boats that must be removed.

But as the county contractors survey marshes and rivers — using a number of techniques, including sonar devices to find debris that is completely submerged — that number is likely to climb.

“Since the hurricane, I’ve heard of about 40 unaccounted for vessels in (the St. Helena Island area) that are underwater,” Glover said.

“They can become an obstruction (for boaters),” he said. “I’ve got a friend who recently told me he doesn’t want to take his boat out until we get rid of all the debris.”

While the Eddings Point Boat Landing is partially blocked, it survived the storm undamaged.

The same cannot be said for all of the county’s public docks and landings.

County staff have identified 11 docks in need of repairs following the storm.

“The damage occurred … to varying extents” at different sites, Gruber said.

But in most cases, the damage is “somewhat minor in nature,” he said. “There are bent pieces of metal and things like that, but structurally they are fine and open to the public.”

Repairing the docks is expected to cost just under $210,000.

Regardless of the extent of the damage, county leaders want the landings fixed quickly.

“It is in our best interest to get this done before the boating season starts,” Councilman Brian Flewelling said Monday.

This story was originally published March 6, 2017 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Sunken boat at Eddings Point Boat Landing one of dozens to be plucked from water."