A faltering barge that caused considerable anger as it bounced around Grand Traverse Bay for years finally came ashore as the case involving its owner winds through court.

Crews from Team Elmers dragged the weathered orange barge to shore along M-22 not far south of Fort Road in Leelanau County on Friday. The barge, home to a large crane and various other pieces of equipment, is now about halfway up on shore. An Elmers worker told The Ticker that owner Don Balcom hired Elmers to pull it in so it could be repaired.

The Michigan Attorney General’s office this summer charged Balcom, 88, with one felony and a handful of misdemeanors tied to the barge, which first gained notoriety in 2020 when it sank offshore near Greilickville. It was later pulled up to Northport – where it sank again – before ending up in its current location a few months ago.

The first sinking involved an oil leak, leading to the felony charge of violating water resources protection. Balcom was arraigned on the charges and released on bond. Deliberations in a preliminary examination – held to determine whether there is enough evidence to send a case to trial – occurred Friday and are now scheduled to continue in December, court officials told The Ticker. A judge told Balcom to sell or permanently relocate the barge by then or the case will head to trial. 

Balcom tells The Ticker he hopes to have the barge fixed and back floating again by “Monday, maybe Tuesday.” He said the mechanism that holds the barge in place as it works – the “spud” – was damaged in the first sinking and has continued to cause problems for the vessel.

“We’ve got it pulled up on the land right now, and hopefully we’ll start (repairs) tomorrow,” he says.

Jeff Johnston, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) said the move to shore meshes with plans Balcom previously provided to his office.

“He said he had made arrangements to bring it up on shore to make repairs so that it would not sink again…and he said that he had permission where he planned to bring this thing up on shore to work,” Johnston tells The Ticker. “With that understanding, he’s not allowed to pollute or create any further damage.”

A parcel search shows the home across from the barge is owned by William Fowler. Though many homes along M-22 do not own land on the water side of the highway due to the road right-of-way, county maps confirm that Fowler does in fact own a small sliver of land on which the barge sits. Though Balcom wants to get the barge fixed soon, he said Folwer isn’t worried about it. Fowler could not be reached for comment.

“He’d have no problem if I leave it there forever,” Balcom says.

The three-year saga has created a firestorm on social media and in the real world, where residents were either made aware of pollution or forced to look at the sagging (or submerged) hulk out their front windows for months on end. 

As for the charges levied against him, Balcom is not happy. He’s “trying to live with it.”

“It’s a political thing. How many people do you know that have been charged for something like this?” he said. “I’ve done work for all the marinas around here, all the way down to Chicago, all the way to Muskegon, all the way to Wisconsin, and I’ve never had any pissed off DNR people.”

The Michigan Attorney General's office did not respond to a request for comment.