The Massachusetts Marine Trades Association this week distributed a press release notifying members that the Coast Guard will delay plans to remove hundreds of navigational buoys from New England waters.
The announcement came amid pushback from mariners and congressional lawmakers. The
original plan called for removing 350 of the 4,700 navigational buoys in place from New York to the Canadian border. During the next five years, up to 1,000 buoys could be removed, according to the MMTA statement.
The project has raised safety concerns, especially among commercial fishermen, who’ve panned the plan as a cost-cutting move that compromises safety. Coast Guard director of marine transportation systems Michael Emerson said the agency will “modify and extend” public engagement on the proposal after receiving initial feedback from lawmakers and mariners.
“I appreciate your concern that the Coast Guard slow down the effort to ensure that the needs of communities and mariners in your states are understood,” Emerson wrote in an Aug. 12 letter, the details of which were released Monday by Maine Sen. Angus King. “Accordingly, the Coast Guard will modify and extend the process.”
Emerson added that the Coast Guard’s Northeast District will review public comments on the proposal and will “readvertise with any changes to the current proposal.” He didn’t provide a timeline for that review but said it will include changes from the original proposal.
