I had a different take on this Jack.
For once, Metro is being forced to shell out money for some stupid thing it wants nothing to do with. Kind of like what they do to the taxpayers on a daily basis.

(yeah, I get the whole 'Metro money is taxpayers money argument but still...)

Hey Metro, How you like it? Tasty no?

You know, you have a good point there. What's stupider -- this or the Convention Center hotel?

Maybe Tom, Rex, and the boys can build a floating hotel.

Seems a simple correcting the situation and taking the owner to court to pay the costs.

The owner is probably bankrupt.

Recently I sold my good old boat while it still had a lot of life left. But someday it could become another derelict. It's made of fiberglass like a lot of boats in the last 50 years which doesn't rot. It's hard to make these old boats go away. And the last owner usually has the least amount of money so little point in taking them to court to collect clean up costs.

I do know where you can buy a somewhat tired, name brand power boat over 30 ft, twin engines (they may not be running) for $1500 or less. You'll have to find a new home for it as it's unwanted at it's current location. Let me know if interested...

Selling your floating disaster to some sucker for $10 on Craigslist should not be a move that fixes things for you. The trail should get followed back and previous holders held responsible. I believe there are some laws regarding contaminated land that work this way. And require insurance for anything this large and let them keep their customers honest else pay for it.

Too bad... There are lots of derilict "vessels" around our waterways, and no easy way or money to rid the planet of these polluting eyesores.
We are stuck with the bill unfortunately.

"lyman said estimates for removing the structure range from $30,000 to $90,000, since it contains asbestos and possibly lead paint."

Call me a cynic but I call BS on the whole thing.

The only reason it may cost that much is because of government and the bureaucrats piling up requirements and making it more hazardous than it really is. The contractor will probably have to be a union, monority shop along with involving some haz-mat company treating it like the plague.

There will probably be that much spent in bureaucrat time just pondering the layers of requirements for handling the mountain out of a mole hill problem.

Asbestos is not radiation and can easily be contained in any demo hauling.
Any average excavator with a track hoe could crumple it up and haul it away. With timbers and other parts being recycled.

I'd set it on fire and use it as a training exercise.

But Metro has already geared up to make it as costly as possible.

They can't even do garbage efficiently.

For years they have been doing this.
"500,000 truck trips over 150 million miles and carried 26 billion pounds of garbage to Arlinton.
http://waste360.com/mag/waste_night_day_largescale

Stupid planners should have used a train for the garbage instead of light rail for commuters.

You see problem. Metro sees opportunity.

This is a prime example for Metro to take the lead it so often desires, and to clean up the Columbia River - no matter its northern shore is not in its boundaries. Metro wants to shove light rail north. Metro wants dense housing north. Well, here's one opportunity Metro has to clean up the north of pollution.

Metro shouldn't be whining at the Coast Guard - it should be asking for more, more MORE! Think - all of the polluted mess can be hauled right to Metro's own dock, where it can use its highly paid hazmat experts to clean up these facilities, and recycle them. Recycle them as public docks, public parks. Imagine - if we can turn the Hawthorne Bridge into a park, why not turn the Willamette River into an extension of Waterfront Park? Or the Ross Island lagoon? Or the Swan Island lagoon?

You're all thinking way too small here.

This is a job for the US Navy. Tow it out to sea, set it afire, blow it up, wait for it to drift back to shore, tow it out again, blow it up again, then torpedo it and sink it. It's what they do so well, and they rarely are presented with such a chance - the last time was oh, about 1999.