From: | Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org> |
Date: | 15 May 2006 06:26:15 -0000 |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | [CPEO-MEF] California's ghost fleet |
Suisun Bay fleet hardly shipshapeBy Thomas Peele CONTRA COSTA TIMES (CA) May 14, 2006 Obsolete ships anchored in Suisun Bay have decayed so much that the U.S. government sometimes pays more to scrap just one of them than it spends in a year to maintain the entire fleet, federal documents show. Hazardous materials including asbestos, PCBs, lead paint, mercury, chromates, toxic tin and arsenic are omnipresent in the fleet. What makes the ships expensive to get rid of also makes them dangerous. The vessels, many of them World War II relics, must be made safe enough to stay afloat for the 45-day tow to Texas scrapping yards. One environmentalist called the fleet a "ticking time bomb." An engineer familiar with the ships questioned whether some of them can survive the trip to Texas. U.S. Maritime Administration officials insisted the ships are safe, but for more than a year, they have stalled release of hull testing data the Times requested under the Freedom of Information Act. ... For the entire article, see http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/14577386.htm --
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