M/Y Top Gun dumps garbage in the Exuma Park, caught on camera

[GordMay]

The U.S. Coast Guard has been assigned to the Departments of Treasury, Navy, Transportation, and Homeland Security. Transfers among departments occurred on 6 occasions, at the beginning and end of World Wars I and II, in 1967, and in 2003.
Here’s an interesting opinion piece, on why it should be permanent moved to the Department of Defense (DoD)—specifically as the third naval service within the Department of the Navy—would position the Coast Guard to become more robust, efficient, and combat ready than ever in its history.
➥ https://www.usni.org/magazines/proce...oast-guard-dod

[hellosailor]

Gord-
It would make sense to make the USCG an "either or" and give them one status. However, there are considerations that muddle the waters, like the Posse Commitatus Act (a section of the US Code) which expressly prohibits certain military organizations from being used against the general population. That's a can of worms, because that section of code doesn't mention things like the Air Force, since they weren't imaginable in 1800.(G)
Which is also why the USCG has been so visible in domestic disaster operations, along with various National Guard forces (to confuse matters, there are National Guard who are state militia and there's "The National Guard of the United States" who are taken from the same pool--after they've been formally federalized and transferred to Army command). Big can of worms.
Trust me, there is no one in our Congress who wants to go anywhere NEAR changing that situation. Most of them are unaware that a quiet "Defense Appropriations" bill appendix around 2006 actually allows for Presidential declaration to set aside that part of the US Code as well. Did I mention, big can of worms?

I think most of the Coasties would be quite happier if someone said "OK, everyone who wants to join the Navy and shoot things, step to the left. Everyone who wants to do SAR and buoys and stuff, step to the right" and they just made it simpler.

Not everyone wants to inspect toilets. Or play with machine guns.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

As far as burning it, it’s about all you can do on an island.
1st world countries apparently used to ship it to China, God knows what they did with it, but they aren’t taking it anymore.
Urban legend was that NY City used to carry barge loads out to sea and dump it, may still for all I know.
I hate plastic, most of it could be gotten rid of with no issue.

That's where our trash in the BVI used to go. They would burn it on land and then push whatever is left onto a barge, take it out and dump it. I suppose it's like that in a lot of places. Now I think they have a trash incinerator and they have updated their disposal policies. This also impacted the fly population... turns out that the vast majority of fly's were due to the trash simply piling up.

[belizesailor]

This story generated quite a bit of traffic on several boating forums and on other social media:

https://www.google.com/search?client....5.kYPAJdB1ReY


The Exumas Park is indeed a special place and Im glad to see so much indignation over this act.

If the accussed are guilty, I do hope they pay a heavy price.

[rognvald]

Is this any different than the gaggle of "cruisers" who were anchored off Chubb Cay, in the past, and who sneaked into the harbor after dark and dumped their garbage at the private marina? Rognvald

[Valmika]

Originally Posted by rognvald

Is this any different than the gaggle of "cruisers" who were anchored off Chubb Cay, in the past, and who sneaked into the harbor after dark and dumped their garbage at the private marina? Rognvald

Did they dump it in bins or just on the ground?

[jmorrison146]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"Alexander Hamilton originated the Revenue Cutter Service as the military arm of the Treasury Department in order to stop smuggling (in 1790), so it's ALWAYS been a military agency."



Not quite, Bill. The "military arm" that Hamilton may have intended was one of many federal agencies borged into what is now the USCG. Which, last time I heard, had been placed under the routine peacetime control of the Department of Homeland Security, which is an administrative agency, not a military arm or anything.



The USCG has traditionally had a formal dual role, in that they are authorized and empowered to be a a military arm, under the control of the War Department (excuse me, Defense Department, we haven't formally been at war since the 1940's) and until and unless Congress formally declares war, as only they are authorized to do, the USCG remains an administrative agency, a civil branch of government, no matter who claims what color of law otherwise.



Unless you've got some citation that says the US is currently in a formal state of War, or showing the USCG has been seconded to the DoD instead of DHS?



CSY-

I know some creative LEOs who would go through that pile of garbage, if it were here in the US, and then issue a separate citation for each piece of it. One orange peel, torn into 28 pieces? 28 citations. By the time they got through with the pile, they could issue a warrant for a rest of the boat and a lien for everything on it.

Kinda like a fellow in NY who made the mistake of lobstering without a permit when the NYS DEC was having an enforcement campaign. The nice officer left him standing in a parking lot, in his underwear, with his house keys. Everything else got confiscated as "used during the commission of..." including his garments and car. Word got around fast that year.

Nope. Revenue Cutter's Service established by Hamilton with a military structure. Armed military service since 1790. Other non-military functions such as Lighthouse Service, Lifesaving Service, Steamboat Inspection Service added later. USCG was the nation's only military service until the USN was established.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by jmorrison146

Nope. Revenue Cutter's Service established by Hamilton with a military structure. Armed military service since 1790. Other non-military functions such as Lighthouse Service, Lifesaving Service, Steamboat Inspection Service added later. USCG was the nation's only military service until the USN was established.

The USCoast Guard is a uniformed service and is 2nd longest in cumulative existence after the army. The Continental Navy and the Continental Marines were established earlier but were disestablished immediately following the revolutionary war and were not reestablished until significantly after the Revenue Service so their cumulative. Length of existence is shorter than the USCG.

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by Valmika

Did they dump it in bins or just on the ground?

Hi, Val,
It doesn't matter where they dumped it. In both cases, they were cheating and dumping illegally. In the Exumas, he was violating Park Rules. At Chubb Cay, they were dumping garbage at a private marina where they did not pay for those services by renting a slip. In both cases, someone will pick up the garbage and be responsible for its proper and costly disposal. In both above cases, they are irresponsible cheaters. Good luck and safe sailing . . . Rognvald

[admiralslater]

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