It was a meeting long on talk but short on answers.

It's not that they didn't try, the representatives from agencies the likes of OSHA, DEQ, DSL, ODFW, PSU and OIMB, but Oregonians just don't know much about the shipbreaking or ship recycling industry.

Oregon International Port of Coos Bay officials and local marine biology experts partnered in hosting Thursday night's information forum on the topic at the North Bend Public Library. They wanted to learn more about the industry's environmental and health and safety risks, along with the state's possible regulation for dealing with mothballed military ships from California.

There are regulations, particularly at the federal level concerning worker safety and release of toxics such as asbestos. At the state level, the regulatory waters are murky.

“I think you're going to learn tonight we don't have anything like that for marine organisms,” said Dan Hilburn, from the Oregon Department of Agriculture's plant division.

He was referring to his agency's powerful regulatory authority to try to prevent and control the spread of plant disease and insect invaders.

For instance, in the past decade when companies imported pine logs from New Zealand into Coos Bay by ship, the department required the logs be treated with pesticides prior to arrival. The agency also is working to control a rust fungus on the South Coast that targets blackberries and other brush.

The problem, Hilburn said, is that authority doesn't carry across to the marine environment. Coos Bay leads the state in commercial oyster production, and Hilburn suggested pollutants or invasive species releases could bring closures for oyster farmers.

For marine invasive species, the issue just hasn't come up before in a regulatory sense because there's little science on it. Portland State University's Mark Sytsma told the audience that while there is a lot of research into the movement and makeup of ship bilge water, the research on organisms that cling to ship hulls is just beginning.

The biggest unknown is what to do about potentially invasive species that might hitchhike to Coos Bay. Scientists have to figure out what species exist and whether they pose any danger.

“San Francisco Bay is easily the most invaded bay on the West Coast,” said Professor Alan Shanks, from the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.

But Shanks also talked about toxic materials aboard the vessels. He mused on the release of asbestos and PCBs into the environment.

“If people breaking the ships are not perfect in their handling of materials, they're going to escape,” he said.

Shanks estimated that if 1 percent of the asbestos contained on a typical vessel blew out of the recycling yard, it could mean 98 tons per ship of the cancer-causing stuff blowing away or settling into the bay. Shanks said that while asbestos might go away, deadly PCBs and heavy metals would stay in the environment forever. The comments brought the only debate of the evening.

Local Oregon Department of Environmental Quality worker Martin Abts, who was sitting in the audience sharply questioned and then chastised Shanks.

“You threw out a number and it was grossly exaggerated,” Abts said.

“As you point out, it is purely off the top of my head and I could be wrong,” Shanks conceded.

But clearly, worries about asbestos and heavy metals were on the minds of some in the audience.

Only written questions, no spoken comments, were allowed, but that didn't speed the pace of the 2.5-hour forum. The almost 100 people in attendance included retirees, fishermen, school teachers, county commissioners, environmental activists, tribal members, political candidates, union workers and many others.

The question for OSHA was: Are we likely to have problems with a high-risk industry and low-wage workforce?

“It's certainly one that can be problem, but it gets down to how well the workforce is trained,” said Carl Halgren, area director for US-OSHA in Portland.

For Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality, there were questions about how it would regulate noise and air pollutants. DEQ is a rule enforcing agency and there are noise regulations, but no funding for enforcement.

“The Legislature cut that years ago,” said Brian Fuller, a DEQ waste reduction analyst.

DEQ wouldn't regulate air emissions from cutting torches, he added. But there are very specific rules on what happens to the hazardous materials workers are to carefully remove from the vessels. Some would be recycled. Most would go to specially and monitored designed landfills.

And as to tsunamis, one participant wrote a question about their potential impact on a ship recycling facility. The answer there, from Mike Graybill who's the director at the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, was that it would be hard to find any industrial land around the bay that wouldn't be at risk from earthquakes or tsunamis generated by them.

At night's end, people leaving the forum still had unanswered questions, one being concerns over why the ships would be moved at all.

“It seems like they ought to break them apart where they are,” said Barview resident Paul Walker.

He added that he felt there weren't enough answers on air quality concerns. He worries about toxic paints fumes that might blow over town and over his house.

Others wanted to know exactly how far along the port is in talks about siting a ship recycling facility here. The port's Martin Callery said there are no negotiations. Rather, there's interest from potential ship recyclers. Port commissioners want to hold the forums to gather all the information they can prior to negotiating with anyone.

“I'm just really worried about the environment. This doesn't sound like a clean thing,” Coos Bay resident Candy Chatt said.

Callery said written comments, questions and answers, and documentation are to be posted soon on the port's Web site. And residents will be able to keep asking those questions. The port is planning another forum in early May to further talk about the risks and opportunities, particularly on the business side of ship recycling.

- City Editor Elise Hamner can be reached by calling 269-1222 ext. 239 or by sending e-mail to

ehamner@theworldlink.com.