SAN FRANCISCO—Northeast of San Francisco, dozens upon dozens of obsolete World War II National Defense vessels are anchored, moored silent and still, slowly disintegrating into the San Francisco Bay waters. More than 70 military and cargo vessels, placed in storage by the Federal government, comprise the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet.
According to environmentalists, the rusting naval ships—also known as the "Ghost fleet" that was once afloat in case of war—are a sitting environmental time bomb. Chunks of peeling toxic paint and heavy metals fall off their hulks onto the sediment of the pristine waters of Suisun Bay.
To halt the ongoing toxic pollution from the mothballed military fleet, several environmental groups filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento. Activists claim the Maritime Administration (MARAD), a federal government agency under the U.S. Department of Transportation, is responsible for the pollution.
The suit seeks to bring the federal government agency into compliance with California environmental regulations. Activists also seek to compel the Maritime Administration to dispose of the "Ghost Fleet" and any hazardous wastes at an appropriate land-based facility.
"Many people have seen them as they fish, seen them off in the fog—misty and historic, but when you look at these vessels closely you'll find a very different story—a corrosive problem is sitting there," says Saul Bloom, Director of Arc Ecology, a non-profit organization concerned with ecology.
Belonging to the Federal Reserve Fleet of mothballed ships that were moored in alternating bow to stern configurations in Suisun Bay after World War II and the Korean War, are many types of warships, including support ships, and oilers like the historically significant battleship USS Iowa.
According to the federal agency's own analyses, the more than 70 ships have lost 18 tons of metals into the San Francisco Bay.
Sajil Choksi from San Francisco Bay Keeper, says that the vessels are particularly harmful to more than 40 species of threatened and endangered animals. Pollutants flaking off the ships give to the waters and onto the sediment high levels of asbestos, mercury, lead, copper, and zinc. These metals in such high levels are lethal to animals and fish.
Congress set a deadline in 2006 for a strategic plan for disposal of obsolete National Defense Fleet vessels, but the decision lingered due to a regulation that requires scraping of the hulls of vessels to remove invasive species such as barnacles and other sea critters that cling to the bottom of the ship, a process also known as "scamping" before towing the ships to their final disposal site.
The Maritime Administration has anchored vessels at three different locations: one in James River, Virginia; another near Beaumont, Texas; and the third in California's San Francisco Suisun Bay. Dismantling of obsolete vessels in Texas was also brought to a halt after studies at Suisun Bay showed that sediment below ships is heavily polluted.
"These ships are floating junkyards of hazardous waste, awaiting final disposal," said Michael Wall, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) senior attorney.
The Maritime Administration could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit, but the head of the Maritime Administration, Sean T. Connaughton, told the Associated Press that, "The best way, ultimately, to protect the Suisun Bay is to remove these vessels in as timely a manner as possible."
"The 'Ghost Fleet' presents an ongoing threat to human health and the environment," said Bloom. "It doesn't belong in Suisun Bay anymore—it's been haunting our waters for far too long."
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