FORT MYERS, Fla. — There are still abandoned boats in the water in Fort Myers, more than two years after Hurricane Ian.
Fort Myers Community Correspondent, Miyoshi Price, drives across the Caloosahatchee every day, reporting on stories, and she see the wrecked boats all the time.
Watch Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price's report:
Two women have been fighting to remove one of those derelict boats from Legacy Habour Marina.
"You'll see all the oil films still on the water, so it's still polluting, and of course, it's very unsightly," says Sharon Dewey, a concerned resident.
Dewey and Mary Jo Felix live in downtown Fort Myers and see the leftover damaged boat every morning.
"Last fall on is when they really started getting all the debris picked up and the old boats that were still laying there, and pieces and parts of boats, and it was, it would kind of look like a junkyard," says Dewey.
More than a year ago, they formed a committee of concerned citizens that went to the city and even state officials to get this area cleaned up.
"There was movement, the Legacy Harbor people cleaned up most of it," says Mary Jo Felix. "This boat is a derelict boat, and I imagine it's that we don't know whose responsibility it is."
We contacted the Legacy Habour and asked why the vessel was left out of the clean-up efforts.
Statement on behalf of Legacy Harbour re: marina clean-up
Legacy Harbour is dedicated to cleaning up its property and has worked diligently to remove debris from the property and outside the marina basin. While the vessel in question is in located in the Legacy Harbour marina, it is not owned by Legacy Harbour.
Legacy Harbour is in regular communications local and state agencies, including the West Coast Inland Navigation District (WCIND), regarding the removal of this vessel and look forward to a positive resolution.
A representative from the West Coast Inland Navigation District says there are close to 140 boats left over from Ian in Lee and Charlotte counties; the agency says it's working to remove them all.
He says they are in the second round for a grant that could help get the vessel out of this private marina in Fort Myers. But at this point there's no timeline for when that work will be done.
