In March 2009, a group of NOAA scientists and marine debris experts gathered on the shores the Potomac River to tackle a problem left ignored for the last 25 years. Abandoned during the construction of a local yacht club since the 1980's, a barge stuck in the mud poses potential environmental and navigational hazards. Yet, no one knows who left it, and no one has been able to remove it. NOAA and the Alice Ferguson Foundation have banded together to sort the problem out. This first installment traces the mounting effort through the silent perspective of the The Barge That Wouldn't Budge.