Gambier Island residents fight plans for new artificial reef

Global BC | Gambier Island residents fight plans for new artificial reef: "“It’s the size of three football fields and when it goes down on that fine sediment sea bed, it is going to destroy it,’ says Andrew Strang with savehalkettbay.com. “The Department of Fisheries and Oceans was very clear, and said that this was unacceptable.”
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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."

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Obama Administration Scuttles Popular Artificial Reef Program | Sport Fishing

Obama Administration Scuttles Popular Artificial Reef Program | Sport Fishing: "Once touted by the agency as an environmentally responsible method for disposing of old, useless ships that were stripped clean for sinking, the program has now been called into question due to evironmental concerns, the report indicates. "

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Concerns likely won’t stop project | Local News | Coast Reporter, Sunshine Coast, BC

Concerns likely won’t stop project | Local News | Coast Reporter, Sunshine Coast, BC: "

“In light of this new study and the fact that the U.S. Marine administration has taken the dramatic step recently of effectively banning this practice in the United States, we respectfully ask that you halt this imminent sinking of the Annapolis and put a moratorium on the practice of making artificial reefs out of former armed forces vessels until further study,” Andrew Strang wrote on behalf of Save Halkett Bay."

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Rules halt program using 'ghost fleet' ships as reefs | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

Rules halt program using 'ghost fleet' ships as reefs | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com:

"Chief among the changes is a rule that all ships built before 1985 no longer can be sunk as reefs. The rule is targeted at curtailing PCBs, a highly toxic class of chemicals that, before 1985, often were found in ship wiring, insulation, gaskets and paint."

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U.S. Government Ends The Sinking Of Old Ships as Artificial Reefs

U.S. Government Ends The Sinking Of Old Ships as Artificial Reefs: " MARAD's new policy excludes from artificial reefing consideration of any vessel that was built before 1985 (and likely to contain PCBs). PCBs are a persistent toxic chemical family that is described by the U.S. EPA as potentially carcinogenic to humans and builds-up in the marine food chain. They are banned from use and production under the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act."

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Sinking fate of HMCS Annapolis destroyer generates environmental concern - The Globe and Mail

Sinking fate of HMCS Annapolis destroyer generates environmental concern - The Globe and Mail:

 "“We haven’t seen anything from the province that shows us the ship has been cleaned. The people in Howe Sound are not confident it is clean,” he said, expressing concerns that polychlorinated biphenyls, mercury and other contaminants might be released from the sunken hulk."

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