Donald Balcom, the owner of a decrepit barge that has been repeatedly abandoned at numerous points around Grand Traverse Bay, has pleaded guilty to a charge of water resources protection violations for discharge of injurious substances to waters of the state, a two-year felony. The plea agreement gives Balcom one year to remove the barge from its current location off M-22, not far south of Fort Road in Leelanau County. If Balcom complies with the terms of the plea, his conviction will be relaxed to the lower misdemeanor charge of watercraft pollution – littering from vessel.

Balcom entered his guilty plea on Monday, April 22 in the 13th Circuit Court in Leelanau County, with Judge Charles M. Hamlyn presiding.

In recent years, Balcom and his barge have become the subject of considerable discussion and reporting in both Leelanau and Grand Traverse counties. The barge, which is orange and blue and home to a large crane and various other pieces of equipment, first gained notoriety in November 2020 when it sank off the shores of Greilickville, leaking oil and fuel into Grand Traverse Bay. It was later pulled up to Northport, where it soon sank once more. Then, last summer, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that her office would charge Balcom with numerous offenses “over his abandonment of an industrial barge in the waters of Lake Michigan off the coast of Leelanau County.”

The barge was eventually hauled away from its perch in Northport last August, moving instead to a new spot off the shores off Suttons Bay. The vessel finally came ashore in October, with Balcom hiring Team Elmer’s to pull it out of the water so that it could be repaired. It hasn’t moved since.

Balcom’s plea agreement states that, “if the vessel is moved within 1 year to a legal location by either Defendant or the State,” the plea would change to the lower charge of littering from a vessel. It also notes that, “if the State moves the vessel, the State would seek restitution” from Balcom to cover those expenses.

The plea agreement effectively defers Balcom’s sentencing by a year, with jail time, fines, and other penalties to be determined based on whether Balcom complies with the order to move the barge.

“I relaunched the environmental crimes unit in my office to prosecute egregious offenses against our State’s natural resources, and I am pleased to announce this conviction,” Nessel said in a statement. “But this matter is not yet resolved. The barge must be moved to a legal location, otherwise Mr. Balcom will face sentencing on the felonious release of oil from the sunken vessel into state waters of Lake Michigan. 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. My department remains committed to resolving this years-long issue and to protecting the Great Lakes whenever they come under threat.”