US Scuttles Practice of Sinking Ships to Create Artificial Reefs

The US Maritime Administration has quietly adopted a new policy that ends the practice of sinking old ships to create artificial reefs.

Since the program began in 1972, approximately 45 "non-retention" ships have been disposed of in this manner – along with all the toxic substances they contain, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that are toxic carcinogens and other heavy metals that would have value if they were recycled.

PCBs are often in fiberglass, felt, foam, cork, paint, insulation and other ship components.

The new policy applies only to ships built before 1985, which covers all 38 ships currently designated for scrapping. Those ships will go to domestic recyclers instead, says The Basel Action Network (BAN), which worked for the new policy.

"The Obama administration got this one right, and they should be commended for finally putting into place a more conservative policy that protects our resources, our jobs as well as the marine environment," says Colby Self, director of the Green Ship Recycling Campaign at BAN.

Now, what to do about all the ships the US Navy sinks during live-target fire practice under its sinking exercise (SINKEX) program?

Unfortunately, regulations regarding which old ships are used  for these at-sea exercises are less rigorous, says BAN. Since 1999, the Navy has sunk 117 ships in this manner – including three very close to Hawaii in July 2012.

BAN, the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity challenged the SINKEX program in a July 2011 lawsuit against the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA).

"When decommissioned Naval warships containing PCBs are disposed of at sea via the SINKEX program, solid PCBs remaining on them may leach into the marine environment.  These PCBs may then be transported to shallow water ecosystems by a variety of methods including by biographic transport, upwelling, and meridional circulation overturning, where they may bind to sediments or be absorbed by fish or other marine organisms," the organizations say in their lawsuit.

The Navy is supposed to document how much toxic material has been removed from vessels before they are sunk under the SINKEX program, but that documentation is often incomplete, alleges the lawsuit.

For more on the SINKEX lawsuit: