Artificial reef program modified after rise in PCB's found

U.S. - Stripes: "In 2004, the USS Oriskany aircraft carrier was removed from the reserve fleet in Texas, remediated and in 2006 sunk off the Pensacola coast in a pilot project for artificial reefs. It's still the largest such reef in the country, said Self.

Site monitoring since then by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservaton Commission indicates a leap in PCB contamination in fish around the reef, he said. The results appear in a BAN report from July 2011 called "Dishonorable Disposal: The Case Against Dumping U.S. Naval Vessels at Sea."

Before the sinking, Self said, PCB concentrations in fish were 3.8 parts per billion (ppb). Afterward, they rocketed to 58.75 ppb.

In that time, total PCB concentrations in fish samples increased an average of 1,446 percent, he said."

'via Blog this'