Coast Guard relents on buoys, but not in Westport

By Ted Hayes

While the United States Coast Guard on Friday removed a host of local buoys from a list of those targeted for removal from Maine to New York, Westport appears to be out of luck, at least for now.

This Spring, USCG officials released a list of 351 navigational aids targeted as obsolete, including Westport Lighted Bell Buoy 2. But following outcry over the summer from mariners up and down the seaboard, officials on Friday removed 121 of them from that list, including about half a dozen in the Sakonnet River. However Westport's Bell Buoy 2, near Two Mile Rock outside the entrance to the Westport River, remains.

Officials have extended a public comment period on the plan until mid-November, and Harbormaster Bill Chace said Tuesday morning that Westport will file a formal resp