PROVIDENCE — The sunken barge polluting the Providence River since 2017 will soon be gone.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded a $1.5 million grant to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to remove the 114-foot crane-topped barge from the river, where it sank during a nor’easter in October 2017.

U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Reps. Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo helped secure the funding, according to a joint press release issued Thursday.

DEM and the Providence harbormaster had been negotiating with the crane’s owner, Mark J. Ginalski of East Providence, to remove the crane and barge it sits on since 2018. In a July 2018 letter to Ginalski, DEM threatened to impose a $25,000 daily fine. Ginalski died in September 2020.

David Chopy, DEM’s chief of compliance and inspection, and harbormaster Sgt. Kenneth Vinacco had repeatedly sent warning letters to Ginalski since the vessel sank.

“The barge is an obstacle to the proper use of the waters for commercial and recreational purposes by the city and its residents,” Vinacco wrote in one letter.

The barge, identified as MG Marine Barge, sits in about 15 feet of water next to Conley Wharf, with the crane jutting from the water at a 45-degree angle.

In October 2017, DEM responded to a call that the barge was leaking oil. Ginalski was cited for violating five pollution laws and given 30 days to remove the barge and crane.

In August 2018, DEM issued a notice of intent letter to enforce. Ginalski responded by saying he couldn’t afford to move his crane barge. Ginalski has a long criminal record and previously owned a tugboat that sank off East Providence in 2014.

Once the barge is removed, DEM will partner with The Steel Yard, a nonprofit industrial art center and non-traditional craft school in Providence, to engage local community groups and high school students to help transform materials recovered from the barge into community-informed art and amenities for a public waterfront access point at the end of Public Street, according to the press release.

The funding was authorized by NOAA’s Marine Debris Program along with more than $23 million in federal funding for 13 new projects to remove large marine debris in communities across the country. 

“Finally getting that sunken crane out of the water will be a big deal. I am looking forward to seeing what The Steel Yard and some talented Rhode Island students can do to turn the eyesore into public artwork befitting its location across the highway from the iconic Big Blue Bug,” Whitehouse said.

DEM director Terry Gray said he was grateful for the funding to remove the barge, which he said has been a priority of the DEM for years.

Note: This story was updated on Sept. 9 to include the information that Mark J. Grinalski died in 2020.