Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 17, 2007
4. Water Quality
MOTHBALL FLEET:
Dispute on deck as four U.S. ships set to be towed; State wants assurance that ships won't pollute Suisun Bay when cleaned - Inside Bay Area
SOIL TESTING COMPLETED:
MOTHBALL FLEET:
Dispute on deck as four
Inside Bay Area – 8/17/07
By Thomas Peele, staff writer
A confrontation between state and federal agencies is brewing as the U.S. Maritime Administration prepares to tow out to sea four decrepit ships anchored in
The ships are part of the decaying "mothball fleet" of 74 vessels east of the Benicia Bridge that are harboring organic growth on their hulls under water and tons of toxic, peeling paint on their structures above the waterline.
The Maritime Administration wants to clean the underwater portions of the hulls in
"We can't be put in a situation where we know (vessels are) discharging paint into the water. They will have to take the worst of it off," David Elias, an engineering geologist with the water quality control board, said this week.
MediaNews reported in June that federal documents show the flaking paint presents a significant environmental threat. Last month the water board asked the Maritime Administration for a plan on how it will clean up the paint. The administration has never cleaned a ship above its waterline before removing it from the fleet.
The administration responded Aug. 6 with a one-page letter calling for further review. The letter did not say when a work plan would be submitted.
Elias said that is not sufficient. "We didn't find that it was responsive," he said.
Meanwhile, bid documents show the administration is moving forward with plans to dispose of the four World War II ships.
Bids for moving the ships are due at the end of the month, and it would appear the removal of the vessels from local waters is planned before a clean-up plan is given to the water board.
Elias said the board would have no choice but to attempt to block movement of those ships if the paint on them is not first cleaned up. "That's what the work plan is for, to (address) the paint," he said.
In the request for that plan, board Executive Officer Bruce Wolfe wrote that it is clear the shedding paint is a violation of the federal Clean Water Act, which the board enforces.
It was unclear this week how the administration would respond or how a confrontation between the two agencies would play out.
Maritime Administration spokeswoman Shannon Russell and Administrator Sean Connaughton would not take questions on the matter Tuesday. Russell wrote in an e-mail that no response from the water board to the administration's Aug. 6 letter had been received, and she would not comment. She pointed out that Connaughton recently told
There is little doubt that the ships would shed toxic paint as they are towed out the Golden Gate, south to the Panama Canal and then through the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico to
It's inevitable that paint would fall into the ocean, he said. On some ships, paint chips lay loose on the decks like dried leaves.
"If a wave hits it, some of it will fall. It's going to happen," Lovett said. As for a possible showdown between the two agencies, he said, "It's a question of who blinks first."
The four ships include the Gen. Patrick, a former troop carrier. When Connaughton, the maritime administrator, visited
Connaughton said in June that a plan to clean up the paint would be shared with the state. But he also made it clear he did not want remediation plans to get in the way of removing ships for scrapping.
Saul Bloom of the
"The Maritime Administration has been involved in unwise environmental practices for a number of years," Bloom said. "It is time for (it) to come into compliance with the environmental laws of the last half century."
The bid specifications for moving the four ships do call for underwater hull cleaning at Maritime Administration docks in
But that issue also remains fraught with problems. The state water board wants to make sure that the hull cleaning does not cause pollution. When two ship hulls were cleaned in
That situation eventually resulted in Connaughton suspending the ship recycling program while tests were done on a system to collect the materials removed during the hull cleaning. Test results were given to the water board earlier this month, but Elias said they lack details about how much of the material removed was captured.
"We want to know how much went into the filter bag and how much escaped," Elias said. "They didn't tell us that."
The city of
The development director, Leslie A. Little, said Tuesday the city is awaiting a response. #
SOIL TESTING COMPLETED:
By Darleen Principe, staff writer
More than a month after city officials contracted with two labs to collect and analyze surface water and soil samples from the proposed
Two surface water samples and one soil sample taken from the area were split between PatChem Laboratories in Moorpark and American Environmental Testing Laboratory in
"The bottom line is that there is not a concern for the public's exposure to water or soil on that site," said Laura Bhejan, assistant city manager.
In May, a group of Simi residents collected samples and paid $3,000 to have them analyzed by Pat-Chem. Members of the group, including John Southwick, approached the City Council and claimed that their results revealed elevated levels of poisonous arsenic, nickel and copper. This prompted city officials to conduct a new set of tests in response to the group's claims.
Southwick and a representative from Pat-Chem accompanied city officials on the July 2 trip to
The completed report states that surface water samples collected from the
Bhejan said the statement refers to drinking water standards and because the stream will not be used for that purpose there is no immediate cause for concern.
Dawn White, water quality manager at the Southern California Water Company, could not provide information specific to
According to the report, the arsenic concentration in the soil sample collected in May was approximately four times that of the concentration of the sample taken in July.
TetraTech concluded that exposures to the soil tested "are generally similar to what individuals may experience at other locations in
Bhejan said the test results are being sent to KB Home, the developer planning to build 461 homes on the 1,500-acre site, and the City Council for review.
"We're asking them to review it and inform us of what they plan to do in response to the recommendations (made in the report)," Bhejan said.
A complete copy of the report is available on the "Runkle Canyon Update" section of the city's website at simivalley.org. #
http://www.simivalleyacorn.com/news/2007/0817/Front_Page/001.html
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