Coast Guard schedules Island public hearing on removal of navigational aids

The U.S. Coast Guard will hold a public hearing Sept. 22 on Martha’s Vineyard on a controversial proposal to remove or change 43 aids to navigation (ATON) in the vicinity of Martha’s Vineyard.

These include seven buoys marking the passage through Robinsons Hole; the buoy on the corner of Lucas Shoal; the Lone Rock Buoy 1 and the Oak Bluffs Harbor Approach Obstruction Buoy; Vineyard Haven Buoy 4; and Edgartown Harbor Channel Buoy 9.

The Coast Guard outlined the proposed changes In a marine safety information bulletin issued in May. The Coast Guard maintains there is no risk to public safety. “Our review suggests that the 43 aids identified in this proposal consume Coast Guard (and taxpayer) resources that exceed any navigation safety benefit delivered to the boating public,” the Coast Guard said in a public notice.

Local officials disagree. In a letter dated June 7, James Lobdell, chairman of the Tisbury harbor management committee, asked the Coast Guard to reconsider the removal of Buoy 4, and listed a set of reasons that included  the fact that it provides “for traffic separation between large vessels, ferries, cruise ships, tugs and barges, and large yachts, and the hundreds of small recreational vessels that visit and berth in Vineyard Haven.”

Mr. Lobdell also asked the Coast Guard to reconsider the removal of the buoys in Robinsons Hole. “Robinsons Hole with its strong currents and crooked channel will become very dangerous without buoys,” he said.

The hearing is from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, Thursday, Sept. 22, in the Katharine Cornell Theater in Vineyard Haven.

The post Coast Guard schedules Island public hearing on removal of navigational aids appeared first on Martha's Vineyard Times.