Goodbye Liberty, Hello “___(name that boat)___” King County Enviro. Lab Replacing Research Vessel

King County’s environmental lab is retiring an old research vessel and getting a new one. The replacement boat is a $1.9 million-dollar custom-designed aluminum catamaran that will be faster and more efficient than the old vessel, Liberty. The Liberty will remain in service through this spring from its home on a pier in Seattle's canal. It has been a workplace for environmental scientists since it first purchased 38 years ago. “We love her, she’s worked great, but it’s time to move on to the future,” says the boat’s captain, Bob Kruger, an environmental lab scientist who takes the ship out to collect water samples nearly 50 weeks of the year. He says it’s time to move on because Liberty was never really meant to be a research vessel. She’s a converted fishing boat. And it now costs more to maintain her than it will to replace her. Krueger has worked for the lab for 23 years and he’s the lead boat operator. Together with other scientists on the environmental crew, he takes the Liberty