On January 12, the VALIANT, a 107 ton abandoned WWII-era steel tugboat, broke free from its mooring in Sevenmile Slough, Sacramento County, and drifted into the San Joaquin River navigation channel. The Commission, Sacramento and San Joaquin County Sheriff’s offices, California Department of Fish and Wildlife-Office of Spill Prevention and Response, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. EPA coordinated to stabilize and demolish the vessel. Roughly 2500 gallons of fuel and oil were removed while the VALIANT was still floating. The agencies safely removed the VALIANT from the water at Mare Island, Vallejo, and abated the remaining hazardous substances and scrapped the vessel the following week.
Scroll through the 30 photos below to see the Valiant tugboat being removed from navigable waters.
