Owner of barge abandoned in Lake Michigan pleads guilty

A Traverse City man who authorities said abandoned an industrial barge in Lake Michigan twice has pleaded guilty to charges, state officials announced Tuesday.

Donald Lewis Balcom, 89, pleaded guilty Monday in 13th District Court in Leelanau County to a count of discharging injurious substances into state waters in violation of the state Natural Resources and Protection Act of 1994, according to the Michigan Attorney General's Office and court records.

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In exchange for his plea, Balcom's sentencing for a felony has been delayed for a year to enable him to remove the barge, officials said. He faces up to two years in prison.

However, if Balcom complies with the agreement and relocates the barge, his conviction will convert to a misdemeanor offense, the attorney general said.

Nessel said in either case, she would ask the judge to include an order that Balcom must reimburse the state for any funds expended in dealing with the barge.

"I relaunched the environmental crimes unit in my office to prosecute egregious offenses against our state’s natural resources, and I am pleased to announce this conviction," Nessel said in a statement. "But this matter is not yet resolved.

"The barge must be moved to a legal location, otherwise Mr. Balcom will face sentencing on the felonious release of oil from the sunken vessel into state waters of Lake Michigan. We have made it abundantly clear he cannot treat the bay as his own personal junkyard, and if he does not resolve the issue, the state will."

Balcom's attorney could not be reached immediately for comment Tuesday.

Authorities allege Balcom, the owner of Balcom Marine Contractors, first abandoned the barge in Grand Traverse Bay near Greilickville in Leelanau County in 2020. They said the barge sunk onto the bottomlands, became partly submerged and released oil into the lake.

The next year, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and the U.S. Coast Guard ordered Balcom to move the barge, officials said.

Balcom had the barge towed to a new location in Grand Traverse Bay just off the shore in Northport where the vessel sank again onto the bottomlands and about 20 feet from the end of a private residential dock. Authorities accused him of abandoning the barge a second time. It remains at its same location, Nessel said.

Last June, Nessel's office charged Balcom with the release of hazardous substances to waters of the state, a felony, and misdemeanors for trespass, marine safety violations, and placement of fill material on Great Lakes submerged lands without a permit.

cramirez@detroitnews.com

X: @CharlesERamirez