An environmental group’s threat to sue five local boatyards was intended to protect salmon and other marine life from pollution. Now that the legal dust is settling, one thing seems clear: the biggest winners were the attorneys, not the fish.

The boatyards are paying more than $43,000 to cover Puget Soundkeeper Alliance’s attorneys’ fees in out-of-court settlements over alleged violations of clean water regulations, plus upward of $34,000 to cover their own legal costs.

By contrast, the amount in penalties the boatyards are paying to fund environmental projects totals just $6,000 — less than one-tenth of the $77,000-plus spent on lawyers.

“I feel like I’ve been betrayed, absolutely betrayed, by an organization I’ve worked with for six years,” said Scott Anderson, owner of CSR Marine, one of the boatyards targeted by PSA. “What this has done is just taken that money away from putting it into the environment. It’s hard-earned money thrown down the toilet. “

As the controversial legal episode winds down, PSA executive director Bob Beckman said he doesn’t regret taking action against the yards, but does feel his organization could have done a better job of communicating with the owners before threatening to sue.

“Clearly, we could have communicated better our intent before we took the legal action,” Beckman said. “I think that was a colossal failure.”

‘Everybody is trying’

The PSA legal action against the boatyards in December took the marine industry by surprise and drew sharp criticism of Beckman, who took the helm of the organization last August. Its previous director, Sue Joerger, had worked extensively and collaboratively with the Northwest Marine Trade Association (NMTA) and boatyard owners including CSR’s Anderson.

CSR participated in a boatyard-based pilot study with PSA and the NMTA a few years ago to evaluate various water treatment systems. Anderson said the company has made other efforts to reduce water-borne pollutants, including installing a $50,000 pressure wash filtration system.

“We have been very proactive with the environmental stuff ever since we’ve been in business,” he said. “We had an open-door policy with PSA’s last director. I wanted them to know how we were really trying.”

Dennis Bortko, the owner of Yarrow Bay Marina in Kirkland, which was also targeted in the PSA action, said he installed a new water treatment system two years ago at a cost of $137,000. Bortko said PSA was wrong to go after boatyards when many have taken steps to cut down pollution levels. A study conducted for the NMTA found that Puget Sound boatyards have cut the amount of copper flowing into the region’s waterways by 52 percent since January 2006.

“Everybody in the industry is trying,” Bortko said. “I thought (PSA) was supposed to work with people, not against them. They’re not helping anybody. They’re just suing people.”

Reputation for litigation

PSA has established a reputation for being among the most litigious environmental groups in the country. Under Joerger’s leadership, the group launched about 150 suits over the past five years against entities ranging from local governments to recycling companies — but never boatyards.

That changed in September, when Beckman sent letters to boatyards around the state, advising them that PSA may sue yards that were not in compliance with the Clean Water Act. Under the act, passed in 1972, individuals or organizations can bring citizen lawsuits against polluters. After receiving a response from just one boatyard, PSA sent the intent to sue letters out in late December.

The boatyards had the option of settling out of court or proceeding to a much costlier and lengthier litigation process. All settled out of court.

The settlements required the boatyards to pay legal fees charged by PSA’s attorneys at Smith & Lowney, a Seattle firm specializing in environmental litigation. Additionally, two of the yards agreed to pay penalties in the form of payments to environmental organizations.

‘Too late’ for collaboration

CSR, which disputed PSA’s allegations, paid $17,500 for PSA’s legal fees, plus a penalty of $5,000 that will go to Citizens for a Healthy Bay, a Tacoma-based nonprofit focused on restoring and protecting the waters of Puget Sound. CSR ‘s own legal fees totaled another $20,000, Anderson said.

Dunato’s Marine Service, a boatyard on Lake Union, paid $12,000 for PSA’s legal fees, plus about $5,500 to its own lawyer. The company also disputed PSA’s allegations, but settled in order to avoid an expensive legal battle.

Yarrow Bay Marina paid a little more than $8,700 to cover PSA’s legal fees, plus a $1,000 penalty to environmental group Friends of the Cedar River Watershed, as well as $9,000 to its own attorney. In response to the legal action, the company no longer provides pressure washing for boats and only washes boats without bottom paint.

Yachtfish Marine, also located on Lake Union, paid $5,000 in legal fees, according to Beckman (the company declined repeated requests for an interview). Beckman said the boatyard’s owner has installed a water treatment system and agreed to comply with clean water regulations.

“He settled quickly and efficiently,” Beckman said. “He didn’t lawyer up. I think we treated him very fairly and equitably, so his costs were very low.”

By contrast, Beckman said, Dunato’s and CSR engaged in “very contentious settlement negotiations” that ratcheted up legal costs.

“That was very unfortunate,” Beckman said. “It took longer than typical to reach a settlement, and that drives up the costs.”

Beckman acknowledged that PSA could have reached out to boatyards after the September letter before taking legal action.

“In retrospect, it would have been nice if we went out and followed that up and said, ‘Hey guys, we didn’t hear anything,’ engage people and see if anyone was willing to talk with us. From where we are now, that probably would have been a good piece of the overall strategy.”

Still, Beckman believes the legal action was helpful in getting the attention of other boatyards. Now that that’s accomplished, Beckman said, he’s looking forward to working with boatyards to help them reduce pollution levels.

Anderson, for one, isn’t interested in talking collaboration.

“It’s too late for that,” he said. “Why would I want to have them down at my yard and pursue anything with them?”

The PSA action cost CSR Marine more than $50,000, Anderson said, equating to about one-sixth of the company’s yearly income.

“For us to come up with $50,000, that takes us $500,000 to $700,000 of work. We’re lucky to make 10 percent profit,” he said. “How much could we have done with that kind of money? A lot.

“To have our guys who have children worried about having a job, or any of our guys …” Anderson said. “It was just wrong what they did.”

About Deborah Bach

Deborah Bach is the editor and co-founder of Three Sheets Northwest. She is an avid sailor and long-time professional journalist. You can find Deborah aboard Three Sheets, an Island Packet 38, with her husband Marty and their cat Lily.

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