CHEBOYGAN, MI -- Remember those three boats seemingly left abandoned in the bay near Cheboygan?

Well, they are still there, and now, they're surrounded by ice.

This has been a story 7&4 has been following.

Tuesday, environmental clean-up crews are preparing for when the ice melts, because the Coast Guard doesn't want a repeat of what happened this summer in Duncan Bay, if you remember, there were two separate oil leaks, so they're taking the proactive route.

"There isn't anybody happy about what's happening here," said Harbormaster of Duncan Bay Boat Club Larry Shepard.

A nine inch sheet of ice coats Duncan Bay and surrounds the boats that have been in the news and a topic of controversy for Cheboygan residents.  Remember back in August, a tug sunk, and it spilled diesel.  In October, another tug leaked oil trying to pull a car ferry.  Now, they're all stuck, at least until the ice melts

"We had hoped that this would have been cleaned up before the ice came in, there's no reason for it to be left like it was," said Chuck Marsh, who lives on Duncan Bay.

Residents say the three boats, all owned by a man in Sault Sainte Marie, are a nuisance and have no place in the bay. 

"We don't have the authority to come in and remove the boats, what we want to do is remove any pollution.  The last thing we want is for that to end up in the water and cause damage in this environment," said Kaitlyn Williams, spokesperson for the US Coast Guard, Sault Ste. Marie Sector.

The Coast Guard gave the owner until December 15th to remove the tugs from the bay.  The owner did not comply, so they've stepped in.  Two of the boats are clear from all possible pollutants, and now, they're removing the 4000 or so gallons of diesel, oil, batteries, and any other environmental hazard from the green tug in the bay.  An independent contractor was hired out of Detroit to do the cleanup, and they're transporting the pollutants by ice bridge to the shore.  This is being done in case a leak springs from frozen pipes, or if one of the ships sinks from ice damage this spring.  For people like Chuck Marsh, he says he'll just have to get used to the sights.

“It doesn't look like anything will happen until the spring, so we'll just have to live with it," said Marsh.

“The boats are there for the remainder of the year, there is too much ice," said Shepard.

The Coast Guard has opened its Oil Spill Liability Fund, an emergency fund to clean up environmental hazards, for the fourth time this year, every time for a problem the three boats have presented.

The bill will go to the owner of the three boats.