Community split over proposed ship disposal site: Citizens questioning bringing toxins into the bay

Coos Bay is among three Oregon ports a Chesapeake, Va., company toured this fall in looking to site a shipbreaking facility. Bay Bridge Enterprises plans to invest $4 million in a West Coast plant to dismantle old military vessels. The company's president toured Coos Bay in September, but unimproved sites here would require too long a development timeline. The following two-part story looks at the controversy that erupted in Newport, when port officials announced last month they were days away from signing off on a facility on industrial property near the Newport waterfront.