After Decades Of Toxic Leakage, Last Ship Of "Ghost Fleet" Leaves Suisun Bay For Scrapping

[hatrack]

BENICIA — The last of 57 decaying ships in the federal government’s iconic mothball fleet has left Suisun Bay, ending a long struggle over toxic ship pollution into waters by a major fish nursery area and migration route.

The cargo ship Cape Borda is heading to a Texas dismantling yard — a trip that was scheduled to begin Friday morning but postponed due to tugboat problems, the US Maritime Administration reported . The Borda is the last of 57 military reserve or “ghost” ships required to leave Suisun Bay under a legal settlement between the federal Maritime Administration and state environmental regulators and groups.

Created after World War II to store warships and cargo ships in case needed for a national emergency, the fleet’s hulking gray figures created an indelible landmark that motorists saw as they zipped over the Interstate 680 Benicia/Martinez bridge between Contra Costa and Solano counties.

But toxic paint, PCBs and heavy metals from the mothballed ships polluted Suisun Bay along California’s biggest migratory route for salmon, steelhead trout, striped bass and other fish that migrate from the sea up rivers to spawn. “The removal of the Cape Borda brings to an end an ongoing source of pollution that threatened the bay and the rich aquatic life it supports for decades,” said David Elias, a senior engineering geologist with the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board, a state water pollution agency. “We thank everyone involved in identifying this environmental threat, and working with us to get it corrected.”

EDIT

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/08/03/last-ghost-fleet-ship-leaves-suisun-bay-after-long-pollution-fight/

[SonofDonald]

1. I've seen them from the highway years back

And in pics and films over the years, magnum force and the killer elite and more.

I've always wondered how old some were and how long they've been there.