Abandoned barge threatens Perdido Bay property

LILLIAN, Ala. ( WKRG ) — In the north part of Perdido Bay sitting about 20 yards off Mike Cadden’s pier is a barge that for the last year and a half has been his closest neighbor.

“When it pivots around this way, it’s probably 20 feet,” Cadden said.

One he wants gone before it gets any closer.

“From this winter, it was another 40 feet out, and it has gradually moved,” Cadden said.

It’s nothing new in Baldwin County waterways. WKRG News 5 has reported on boats abandoned in Bon Secour River, near Pelican Point, just north of the Lillian boat launch and most recently just off Perdido Beach .

The fear of these abandoned vessels is always the same.

“It’s going to gradually keep moving towards us and going to take out my pier or my neighbor’s pier or both of them,” Cadden said. “Certainly, if we have a storm, anybody along the way here, including us, would be taken out.”

Like most abandoned vessels, where they come from and who they belong to is largely unknown. That prompted the establishment of a county commission account with state funding from the Alabama Department of Conservation to eliminate the hazards.

Cadden has reached out. But so far, he hasn’t gotten a response.

“If we don’t do something soon, it’s going to be a lot worse for us and our neighbors,” Cadden said.

The county said the barge is on the list but previously stated it would be out by June 1. The Caddens just hope it is out before the next big storm heads this way.

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