BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Twenty-nine vessels were recently removed from the Salish Sea and brought to a Bellingham recycling facility to be broken down as part of a state program aimed at preventing a growing environmental crisis.

Hundreds of broken-down, sinking boats are littering Washington's waterways. They often sit for years leaking gas and oil, polluting the ecosystem and leaving taxpayers with the bill.

Now, the state is working to get ahead of the problem.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) operates a program that offers boat owners a way to dispose of vessels that are no longer seaworthy. For those who can't afford the cost, the state will pick up and recycle the boat for free .

"I think it's exciting to see the actual breakdown of these vehicles because if we weren't d

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