# Garbage scow

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{{Short description|Boat or barge used to transport waste}}
[[File:Amsterdamgargagescow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A typical garbage scow used in [Amsterdam](/source/Amsterdam)]]
A '''garbage scow''' is a large watercraft used to transport refuse and [waste](/source/waste)/[garbage](/source/garbage) across waterways. It is often in the form of a [barge](/source/barge) which is towed or otherwise moved by means of [tugboat](/source/tugboat)s; however, many are also self-propelled. They are most common in large, coastal cities, such as [New York City](/source/New_York_City),<ref name="milwaukee">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1z4aAAAAIBAJ&pg=5442,5077295&dq=garbage+scow&hl=en|title=Hunt for Narcotics Worth $1,500,000 on Garbage Scow|date=June 26, 1948|work=Milwaukee Journal|accessdate=2 December 2010}}</ref> which may transport collected trash to neighboring ports for disposal or, occasionally, even illegally dump the payload at sea.<ref name="tim1931">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,752853,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215031148/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,752853,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 15, 2008|title=STATES & CITIES: Garbage|date=June 1, 1931|magazine=[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))|accessdate=4 April 2011}}</ref><ref name="nyt1987">{{cite news|url=http://large.stanford.edu/publications/coal/references/peterson2/|title=New Concern Raised By Waste-Dumping In Atlantic Off L.I.|last=Peterson|first=Iver|date=August 31, 1987|work=New York Times|accessdate=4 April 2011}}</ref>

The garbage scow ''[Mobro 4000](/source/Mobro_4000)'', which was given the nickname the "Gar-Barge", became notorious in 1987 for travelling between New York City and Belize trying unsuccessfully to get rid of a load of rubbish, ultimately incinerated in New York.

Garbage scows have been used to covertly transport illegal substances in the US. In 1948, the ''[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel](/source/Milwaukee_Journal_Sentinel)'' reported a major bust of narcotics smugglers by United States customs guards and NYC police, with city sanitation workers searching through 20 tons of garbage on a scow in [New York Harbor](/source/New_York_Harbor) for over [US$](/source/US%24)1 million in drugs concealed there.<ref name=milwaukee/>

In another case, during the 1920–1933 era of [US prohibition of alcoholic beverages](/source/Prohibition_in_the_United_States), a garbage scow in New York was used to smuggle 1,000 cases of liquor from New York's "rum row".<ref name="sanjose">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AwgvAAAAIBAJ&pg=4655,3003502&dq=garbage+scow&hl=en|title=Garbage Scow Carries Booze|date=July 30, 1930|work=San Jose Evening News|accessdate=2 December 2010}}</ref>

==See also==
* [Beach cleaner](/source/Beach_cleaner)
* [Garbage truck](/source/Garbage_truck)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Waste}}

Category:Boat types
Category:Waste collection vehicles

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Garbage scow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_scow) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_scow?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.