The ''Mobro 4000'' was a

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

owned by MOBRO Marine, Inc. made infamous in 1987 for hauling the same load of trash along the east coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

and back until a way was found to dispose of the garbage. During this journey, local press often referred to the ''Mobro 4000'' as the "Gar-barge".

Voyage

In 1987, the City of New York found that it had reached its landfill capacity. The city agreed to ship its garbage to

Morehead City Morehead City is a port city in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. Hi ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, where there were plans to convert it into

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

. On 22 March 1987, the tugboat ''Break of Day'' towed the barge ''Mobro 4000'' and its cargo of over 3,100 tons (2,812

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

) of trash. Chartered by

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

Lowell Harrelson and Long Island mob boss Salvatore Avellino, it set sail on March 22 from

Islip, New York Islip ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. The population was 339,938 at th ...

, escorted by the

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''Break of Dawn'' and carrying 3,168

ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...

s (2,874

) of trash headed for a pilot program in

Morehead City, North Carolina Morehead City is a port city in Carteret County, North Carolina, Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its foundi ...

, to be turned into

. While it was in transit, a rumor spread that the 16 bundles of trash that contained hospital gowns, syringes and diapers was a contaminant that affected the entire load. The barge was docked at

, until a

WRAL-TV WRAL-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Research Triangle area. It is the flagship station of the locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company, which has ...

news crew, acting on a tip, flew by helicopter to the coast to investigate. Action News 5 Reporter Susan Brozek broke the story on the 6 p.m. news on 1 April 1987, and

officials began their own investigation, which resulted in an order for the Mobro to move on. As a result, the state of

refused to accept the waste. The barge then proceeded along the coast looking for another place to offload and continued to meet stiff resistance. After an 11-day delay, the ''Mobro'' made its way to its home port in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, but that state, too, declined the waste. Similarly,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, three other states, and the nations of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, and the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

refused the load. The

Mexican Navy The Mexican Navy () is one of the components of the Mexican Armed Forces. The Secretariat of the Navy is in charge of administration of the navy. The commander of the navy is the Secretary of the Navy, who is both a cabinet minister and a career ...

denied it entrance to their waters. It made it as far south as

, again being rejected, before the operators abandoned the plan and returned to New York. Lowell Harrelson, the owner of the garbage, tried to negotiate for the ''Mobro'' to dock near

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, whence the refuse would be carried back to Islip by trucks. Claire Shulman, the borough president of Queens, was not consulted, however; she obtained a

temporary restraining order An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable reme ...

that forced the waste to stay at sea. The ''Mobro'' and its decaying cargo stayed off the shores of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

until July, when the vessel was granted a federal anchorage in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. The court hearings ran until October, when it was agreed that the cargo should be incinerated in Brooklyn. The 430 tons of ash that remained from this process was added to the landfill in Islip.

Legacy

At the time, the ''Mobro 4000'' incident was widely cited by

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

s and the media as emblematic of the solid-waste disposal crisis in the United States due to a shortage of

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

space: almost 3,000 municipal landfills had closed between 1982 and 1987. It triggered much national public discussion about waste disposal, and may have been a factor in increased

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

rates in the late 1980s and after. According to the

Union of Concerned Scientists The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is a nonprofit science advocacy organization based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. Anne Kapuscinski, Professor of Environment ...

, the ''Mobro 4000'' incident was caused by a combination of poor decision making by local Islip public officials and short-term difficulties triggered by changing environmental regulations.

In popular culture

A commemorative T-shirt was produced with the wording "L.I. Garbage Barge - World Tour '87" surrounding a cartoon image of the scow. The Swedish 1988 comedy film '' S.O.S. – En segelsällskapsresa'' features a garbage barge as a

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief ...

, roaming the inner

Stockholm Archipelago The Stockholm Archipelago () is the largest archipelago in Sweden, and the second-largest archipelago in the Baltic Sea (the largest being the Archipelago Sea across the Baltic in Finland). Part of the archipelago has been designated as a Rams ...

. The backstory of the garbage ball in the 1999 ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' episode " A Big Piece of Garbage", draws directly from this event. Singer Sally Timms included a song about the incident, "Junk Barge", written by Dave Trumfio, in her 1995 album ''To the Land of Milk and Honey''. A children's book about the incident, ''Here Comes the Garbage Barge'', by Jonah Winter, was published in 2010. Another, ''All That Trash: The Story of the 1987 Garbage Barge and Our Problem with Stuff'', by Meghan McCarthy, was published in 2018.

References

*Brower, Michael, and Warren Leon. 1999. ''The consumer's guide to effective environmental choices: practical advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists''. New York: Three Rivers Press. {{ISBN, 0-609-80281-X. Waste disposal incidents in the United States Barges of the United States Waste in the United States 1987 in the environment 1987 in the United States Port of New York and New Jersey

Voyage

Legacy

In popular culture

See also

References