The head of the environmental organization that threatened to sue five Seattle-area boatyards abruptly left his position this week, following half a year of controversy and criticism.

Bob Beckman left his job as Puget Soundkeeper Alliance’s executive director on Wednesday, less than a year after taking on the position. Beckman has been at the center of a controversy that started last December, when PSA threatened to sue five boatyards for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. The move caused a major backlash in the marine industry, angering boaters and business owners and straining the previously collaborative relationship between PSA and the Northwest Marine Trade Association, which represents boatyards.

Beckman could not be immediately reached for comment, and PSA board president Tom Diller declined to say what prompted his departure and whether he left the organization voluntarily.

“We have a policy that we don’t talk about employment issues,” Diller said. “The fact is, Bob has left our organization. We wish him well in whatever new adventures he ends up in.”

Chris Wilke, PSA’s head of pollution prevention, has been named interim director while the association undertakes a search for Beckman’s replacement. Diller said PSA has implemented a transition plan and is focused on looking forward.

“We’re excited about looking at new leadership,” he said. “We’re going to be starting a search for a correct leader for our organization who will be able to handle all of the programs we have and keep us growing.”

Wilke, who has worked extensively with the Washington Clean Marina Program and is widely respected among marine industry insiders, also declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Beckman’s departure. Asked whether he thinks the legal action has impacted PSA’s reputation, Wilke said yes.

“The last six months has been very challenging for us, working with one of our key constituencies,” he said, referring to the marine industry. “We do have a lot of positive stories over the last six months, but we also have individuals that are quite mad at us.”

The decision to take legal action against the boatyards was made by PSA’s legal committee and approved by the board, Wilke said. The boatyards included Dunato’s Marine Service, CSR Marine’s two boatyards on Lake Union and the Ballard ship canal, Yachtfish Marine and Yarrow Bay Marina in Kirkland.

The legal action accused the boatyards of not doing enough to prevent copper and other pollutants harmful to marine life from entering stormwater runoff and flowing into Puget Sound. All of the yards settled out of court with PSA, paying legal fees totaling more than $77,000 and $6,000 to two nonprofit organizations focused on improving the waters of Puget Sound.

And while many boaters and marine industry business owners reacted angrily to the legal action, with some withdrawing their support for PSA, Diller said the move also attracted new supporters.

“Although we’ve had a transition in leadership, the good news is that we’ve had a banner year,” he said. “We’re stronger than ever, we’re working the issues stronger than ever, we’ve engaging more volunteers than ever in the past and we’re identified more people who want to be sponsors.

“Even in light of the boatyard issue, there are a lot of people who are saying, ‘We’re glad that you have done this. This type of action is needed.’”

‘Just the fall guy’

Litigation is nothing new to PSA, which has frequently used the citizen lawsuit provision of the federal Clean Water Act to bring suits against polluters. The organization has taken legal action against about 150 entities over the past five years, from state agencies to food processors. But under the leadership of Beckman’s predecessor, Sue Joerger, PSA had worked collaboratively with the NMTA for years in an effort to reduce pollution from boatyards.

So when the five yards received notices of intent to sue from PSA last December, the industry was taken by surprise. The criticism against Beckman, who replaced Joerger last August, was swift and intense.

But not everyone is holding Beckman solely responsible for the move. Patti Segulja-Lau, the general manager of Dunato’s Marine Service, said while she doesn’t feel bad for Beckman, she believes he’s taken the fall for a decision made by others at PSA.

“I feel that Bob Beckman is a scapegoat,” she said. “I don’t think that Bob Beckman was truly driving the bus at PSA, and he’s just the fall guy for the attorneys and the people that are really making the decisions there.

“I think (Beckman’s departure) just goes to show that they’ve got problems, internal problems, and I don’t think that they’re in a position to send out intent to sue letters when they’ve got such big issues within their own organization.”

George Harris, president of the Northwest Marine Trade Association, said Beckman, who publicly defended the PSA’s legal action, had indicated in conversations “that he wasn’t 100 percent in line with his board.”

Harris said while he doesn’t agree with the PSA’s stick-versus-carrot approach, he also feels Beckman isn’t solely to blame. “I think he’s been sort of vilified all along,” Harris said. “I think he was just carrying out the request of his board. I don’t know that he’s necessarily the bad guy. His job was to carry out this action. And he did it, because that was his job.”

The legal action has severely strained the once-collegial relationship between PSA, NMTA and its members. The two organizations are continuing to meet about environmental issues, but will need to repair their damaged relationship to once again work together collaboratively. Segulja-Lau, who was recently elected to the NMTA board, was skeptical that can happen.

“I think that’s going to be difficult and it’s going to take a lot of effort on both parties,” she said. “I don’t trust them. I can’t trust them. They haven’t done anything really to change my mind.”

Wilke said he’s hopeful the two groups can move past recent events and join forces to help boatyards reduce pollution levels.

“I hope so. I really do,” he said. “The lines (of communication) are open. We talk with them on a weekly basis.”

Wilke was recently honored at an NMTA luncheon for his work with the Clean Marina program and said he appreciated being included.

“I was very honored to be there,” he said. “I was in the same room with some of the boatyards that were involved in the lawsuits. It felt a little uneasy, but I look forward to finding ways to working with them on positive solutions.”

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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