Massive 300-foot marina dock slams into eastern Contra Costa Co. properties, causing damage
BETHEL ISLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Residents along the Taylor Slough side of Bethel Island in eastern Contra Costa County are waiting for cleanup after a massive 300-foot dock came crashing onto their properties.
The dock broke away from a nearby privately-owned marina on Sunday as a powerful storm battered the Bay Area.
The dock split into multiple large pieces, which then floated down the river.
"They destroyed a dock and did damage to a bunch of other docks. They landed up against the shore on the far side on the Jersey Island side," said Fred Koslowski.
Koslowki lives there and filmed the whole thing.
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He says the broken dock pieces ended up on a nearby island.
That was until Wednesday when another round of stormy weather and strong tides pulled some of the pieces back toward Bethel Island.
This time, hitting part of Koslowski's own dock, as well as some of his neighbors.
"It was crazy. First thing I thought was call 911 and get emergency service," Koslowski said.
Koslowski says while he doesn't know how much damage Wednesday's crash has done to his property, he estimates it could be anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000.
"All our neighbors got together, gathered ropes, and tied it up so that it's not going to go down and do any more damage," Koslowski said.
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Prior to this week's incident, the marina dock had caused concern for years.
Contra Costa County Supervisor Diane Burgis, who represents this area, says the dock's owner failed to keep up the property resulting in unsafe conditions.
It got so bad that county officials intervened last summer to clean things up, despite it not normally falling under the county's responsibilities.
Now, Burgis says they're working to fix the current mess.
"This is a large piece, you know, a lot of debris. And so it's not something you can just turn around and pick up and go take," she said.
While a contractor has been hired to remove the runaway dock, there's currently no timeline for when that might be finished.
Koslowki says he just hopes it's as soon as possible.
"The anxiety level has been off the hook. I mean just seeing this, this thing is huge."
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