At least one company in Mexico is lobbying for the U.S. military's business in recycling ships.

At an international conference in Canada in April, Alberto Garza Santos, chief executive officer of PASA / Ecomar Mexico, lectured about his company's desire to get into the ship dismantling business. Ecomar has been a leading company in Mexico's garbage and waste recycling industry since 1991. According to Garza Santos' slide presentation, his company wants to build a recycling facility at the Pacific Ocean Port of Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, to meet new international ship disposal guidelines. The state-of-the-art facility would use graving docks to scrap the U.S. government's vessels, recycling up to 300,000 tons annually.

The project has a link to Coos Bay. Ecomar would partner with Environmental Recycling Systems, the Seattle-based company studying Coos Bay for a similar facility, according to ERS President Denny Vaughan, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral. Vaughan said his company would share knowledge and background with project planners.

On the Net:

Port of Lazaro Cardenas

http://www.puerto-lazarocardenas.com.mx/

North American Marine Conference

http://www.tc.gc.ca/POL/EN/acf/shortseaS/namc2006/agenda_e.htm