The federally funded cleanup of the Davy Crockett, which officially crested $10 million on Friday, would have continued even during a government shutdown.
“What Congress is doing shouldn’t affect the Davy Crockett at all,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Shawn Eggert said Friday.
The barge is languishing on the north bank of the Columbia River between Vancouver and Camas, where the owner tried to scrap it while afloat. Construction of a cofferdam is expected to continue through the weekend, with completion anticipated by Tuesday. Workers are installing 850 feet of sheet pilings, along with an impermeable silt barrier, which should allow contractors to dismantle the 431-foot barge while keeping contaminants contained.
Forty contractors continued work on the barge on Friday.
The cleanup is being funded by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, derived from a tax on petroleum products. Continuing the operation is considered an essential government function that wouldn’t have been subject to a shutdown, Eggert said.
“It’s an essential resource they need to have available for situations like this,” he said. “The environmental risk is too great to cut back on that.”
