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Congress had previously ordered MARAD to dismantle the ships classified as no longer useful by 2006, but that never happened. Maritime officials blamed funding and a shortage of facilities for the failure to act on the Congressional mandate. Still, cleaning up the damage that has already been done is impossible, as Suisun Bay is a tidal environment, so the paint that has peeled off the ships is now mixed in with sediments throughout the bay. However, environmental groups said removing the ships would keep an estimated 50 tons of pollutants from entering the bay. Current cleanup efforts had already removed 120 tons of debris from the old warships, Matsuda said. Suisun Bay was chosen by the military as one of several sites for ships withdrawn from active military service. MARAD continues to manage two other ghost fleets in U.S. waters in James River, Va. and Beaumont, Texas. Over the years, the ships became unusable and too expensive to repair, so they were allowed to rot and pollute nearby waters and wildlife while officials debated what to do about the vessels.
Deb Self, executive director of San Francisco Bay Keeper, one of the environmental organizations that joined the lawsuit, said the ship removal is a key step toward cleaning up the polluted waters of the bay and delta. She said the waterways are key habitat for struggling chinook salmon and the tiny, endangered delta smelt. "This area is a nursery for fisheries in San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta," she said. "Keeping these toxins out of the water gives these young fish a fighting chance.
[Associated
Press;
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