The U.S. Maritime Administration would like to get rid of the outdated military ships in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. The problem is that the decades old ships harbor hazardous materials, making it costly to recycle them and remove hazardous substances safely. Many toxics likely aboard the vessels include:

€ PCBs: Considered the most toxic chemicals aboard the vessels, polychlorinated biphenyls are aboard ships built prior to 1978. There are non-liquid and liquid PCBs used because of stability and low flammability. They were used for insulating and cooling equipment. That includes in transformers, but more problematically the non-liquid form was in flooring, gaskets, insulation around cables, and in paint and rubber. PCBs don't biodegrade. They stick around in the soil and water, and eventually are taken up into the food chain, accumulating in fish, birds and mammals. Burned they produce dioxins and furans, damaging to the liver, central nervous system and immunity. PCBs can cause lung, liver and nervous system damage; birth defects and possibly cancer.

€ asbestos: A fibrous mineral used as a fire retarding component. No longer in use as a building material, the fibers when airborne can lodge in the lungs. Asbestos can be found in flooring, around pipes, between steel plates, in adhesives and in other areas. Once inhaled into the lungs, asbestos can cause scarring (abestosis) or lead to lung cancer and possibly other cancers.

€ mercury: Found in fluorescent light tubes, thermometers, electrical switches, light fittings, fire detectors and tank level indicators. Can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Can damage the nervous system and causes birth defects.

€ residual hydrocarbons (oils, fuels): Can be flammable. Can absorbed through the skin or inhaled. Can pollute surface water and ground water, harming wildlife. Can cause nervous system damage, digestive and reproductive damage.

€ ozone-depleting substances: Found in self-contained refrigeration devices, including watercoolers and small freezer units

€ heavy metals: Found in paints and ballast. Can include lead, chromate paint and tributyltin. Lead is particularly harmful to children and can cause learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and at very high levels even death.

€ biohazard: Includes water aboard vessels contaminated with dead animals and animal wastes.

On the Net:

U.S. Maritime Administration

http://www.marad.dot.gov

Basel Action Network

http://www.ban.org

Secretariat of the Basel Convention

http://www.basel.int/index.html

Greenpeace

http://www.greenpeace.org

Schnitzer Steel Industries

http://www.schnitzersteel.com

Centers for Disease Control

http://www.cdc.gov

EPA Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances

http://www.epa.gov/oppts/