LEELANAU COUNTY: Barge owner pleads guilty in pollution case

Apr. 23—SUTTONS BAY — The owner of an industrial barge that sunk twice in Grand Traverse Bay pleaded guilty to one felony count of pollution discharge, which carries a maximum penalty of up to two years in prison.

The hearing took place Tuesday in Leelanau County's 86th District Court.

Sentencing was deferred for 12 months to provide time for barge owner Donald "Moses" Lewis Balcom, 89, to relocate the vessel to a legal, permanent location, according the Michigan Attorney General's office.

If Balcom complies, the felony charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor offense. Other, lesser charges against Balcom were dropped as part of the plea deal.

"This matter is not yet resolved," said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in a public statement. "We have made it abundantly clear he cannot treat the bay as his own personal junkyard, and if he does not resolve the issue, the state will."

Nessel said her office will ask that Balcom be required to reimburse the state for any costs incurred by the state since the legal case began.

The Record-Eagle reached out to Balcom on Tuesday but received no reply. His attorney, Thomas Seger, declined to comment on the case "until the case files are closed."

Currently, the barge is partially beached on private property in Bingham Township about 12 miles north of Traverse City, where it was dragged last fall for repairs. One section of the steel barge rests on state-owned Lake Michigan bottomlands, officials said.

"It's not as visible now as when it was in Elmwood Township because of the grade of the road," said Bingham Township Supervisor Midge Werner. "But I do know some local residents have been concerned about it. Of course, we're always concerned about the possibility of pollution."

Werner said she has seen Balcom working on the grounded barge recently.

"He did some repairs to it so it would run. The (industrial) crane is still on it."

The barge saga started about four years ago when state officials said Balcom first abandoned the barge near Greilickville.

In November 2020, the barge partially sank and released oil into the bay. Soon thereafter, the U.S. Coast Guard brought in a contractor to remove fuel, oil and other chemicals from the barge and to clean up those that had already spilled from it.

While the U.S. Coast Guard typically hauls away sunken vessels, the barge wasn't obstructing navigation so it wasn't a priority, officials said. And no contractor wanted to attempt to tow away the barge because it's not seaworthy, prompting concerns over liability if it sank mid-tow, officials said.

Next, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy gave Balcom until May 27, 2021, to get the barge off state bottomlands. (EGLE was formerly known as the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.)

In early June 2021, Balcom parked the barge at the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians' marina boat ramp. Tribal officials said he did not have permission to do so and, after state and federal intervention, Balcom agreed to tow the barge to another location.

In response, the barge was relocated near a residential property off Paradesia Point north of Northport, where it sank approximately 20 feet from the end of a residential dock.

The barge bottomed out in that spot. EGLE then instructed Balcom to move it in January 2022. Water levels were too low at the time, Balcom previously said, and it was finally refloated with help from a construction company in May.

A landowner in Bingham Township then gave Balcom permission to beach the barge on property about a quarter mile from Hilltop Road in Bingham Township — at least temporarily — with permission from the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

At that time, the plan was to allow Balcom to repair the barge so it could be brought to a permanent storage spot.

However, progress was so slow that the state Attorney General's office brought charges in June 2023. Those charges led to Balcom's guilty plea Tuesday in Leelanau County's 86th District Court.

Werner, who attended the hearing Tuesday morning, said that state environmental officials are monitoring the barge in its current location, which alleviates some of local residents' concerns about further oil leaks.

"I'm happy he's now got a timeline to move it, but I'm sorry it has extended so long," she said. "I've been told that there's no money in the state budget right now to move the boat, so it might not happen until October when that money is appropriated. We'll probably have it there through the summer."

Today, almost four years since the barge saga began, the clock is ticking for Balcom to write the last chapter — moving the vessel to a permanent, legal location no later than April 2025.