A sinking boat is leaking oil into the Charlotte Harbor leaving residents frustrated. They're calling this an environmental emergency.
When Sox Youngblood noticed a sunken boat in the Charlotte Harbor, he launched his drone and discovered something alarming: oil leaking into the water.
He captured the spill on video and showed it to the Punta Gorda Fire Department.
Youngblood said, "They said they were going to come out and look at it. And I expressed to them, you know, you got to come by boat. And they said, oh, that's no problem. I came back about 530 this evening and flew over the vessel again. It looks to me like nothing has been done."
Leon Moyer lives on a catamaran and said he called the Punta Gorda Police Department to report the oil spill almost two weeks ago.
Moyer said, "Their marine unit did go out there and they circled it, and they stayed there a little while, and then they went back under the bridge, went back home, I guess. And I know I was smelling diesel fuel that night already because it's very likely that either the tank is leaking or maybe the line to the engine is slowly leaking."
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the Department of Environmental Protection responds to oil spills.
We reached out to them to ask if they are aware of this. We also reached out to the Punta Gorda police and fire department and are waiting for an answer.
Youngblood said, "I can't put fertilizer on my lawn this time of year because of runoff, but they're leaking fuel and diesel right into the harbor. And, just seems to me that it's time to change the laws where we can take action to protect the harbor immediately rather than have to go through this 30-day process, court hearings or whatever, it seems that they should be able to do something immediately."
Moyer said, "Why isn't law enforcement following up on this a lot quicker? A boat that size could easily have a 50 to 100-gallon tank. And if it's coming out slowly, which it probably is because you'd see a great big oil slick if it all came out at once. I mean, it would be a slick from here out into Charlotte Harbor, so it's probably coming out a few drops at a time, maybe a couple spoonfuls an hour or something, and that could continue for weeks."