Progress report summarizing the reef fish sampling, PCB - Earthjustice

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vessel disposal for the ex-Oriskany, and subsequent decommissioned Navy combatants identified as appropriate for state reefing program use. The ex-Oriskany was the first decommissioned naval combatant selected by the Navy Sea Systems Command Inactive Ships Program Management Section (NAVSEA PMS 333) for use as an artificial reef under federal law (United States Code (USC) Title 10, Chapter 633, §7306b Section 1013. The law authorizes the Navy to donate designated former combatant vessels stricken from the Naval Vessel Register to state governments to be used as artificial reefs for fishing, diving, and marine hard bottom enhancement. The above law also states: “Nothing in this section shall be construed to establish a preference for the use as artificial reefs of vessels stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in lieu of other authorized uses of such vessels, including the domestic scrapping of such vessels, or other disposals of such vessels under this chapter or other applicable authority.” In selecting the ex-Oriskany as their initial pilot artificial reefing project, the Navy recognized that this ship, representing one of the largest, oldest vessels in the inactive fleet inventory, would also be one of the most challenging vessels to environmentally remediate and prepare for sinking as an artificial reef. The Navy evaluated the substantial cost to subsidize the domestic scrapping of the ex- Oriskany as well as remove and dispose of all hazardous materials when considering the option of donating the ship as an artificial reef. The Navy believed that the projected subsidized domestic scrapping cost of the ex-Oriskany (and possibly that of some future Navy combatant vessels) could be reduced if the vessel was utilized by a state artificial reef program. In the case of the ex- Oriskany, the Navy anticipated that this would require leaving some solid PCB containing materials, mainly electrical cable insulation, fiberglass bulkhead insulation, and paint and rubber products on board the ship at the time the vessel was reefed. These Figure 1. Ex-Oriskany at dock in Pensacola, Florida for final environmental clean-up and pre-sink preparations, March 21, 2005. Photo by Bill Horn, FWC. 14 | P age
solid PCB containing materials would be materials that the Navy believed could not otherwise cost effectively be removed without completely dismantling the vessel and in effect scrapping it. Beginning in September 2003 the U.S. Navy, through its selected contractors, Resolve Marine Group (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) and ESCO Marine (Brownsville, Texas) began conducting environmental cleanup and materials salvage work in Corpus Christi, TX on the decommissioned aircraft carrier ex-Oriskany (CVA-34) (Figure 1). To accomplish this work, the ship was dead-ship towed to Texas Dock and Rail shipyard in Corpus Christi, Texas from the inactive reserve fleet in Beaumont, Texas. Environmental cleanup work by the contractors was conducted on the ex-Oriskany in accordance with draft EPA and U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) Best Management Practices guidelines for preparing vessels as artificial reefs (USEPA and MARAD, 2006). Section 3516 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 required the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the EPA to jointly develop guidance recommending environmental best management practices (BMPs) to be used in the preparation of vessels to be used as artificial reefs. Additionally under this Act, the Secretary of the Navy is required to ensure that the preparation of a vessel stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry for use as an artificial reef is conducted in accordance with these BMPS and applicable environmental laws. The Naval Sea Systems Command Inactive Ships Program Management Section (NAVSEA PMS 333) provided overall “turn-key” project management oversight from initial planning and environmental remediation to final reefing. Personnel from the Navy’s Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair (SUPSHIP, Bath, Maine) provided the contract specific management and continuous on site oversight of the environmental remediation and salvage work (removal of nonferrous metals, and miscellaneous equipment for recycling). Meanwhile, Escambia County and FWC, representing the State of Florida, partnered on November 20, 2003 with strong support from the local community to submit an application to the Navy requesting donation of the ex- Oriskany to be utilized as an artificial reef at the previously surveyed and selected sand bottom site within the Escambia East Large Area Artificial Reef Site (EELAARS) in federal Exclusive Economic Zone waters of the Gulf of Mexico eighteen miles nautical miles south of the Northwest Florida panhandle coastline (Dodrill and Turpin, 2003). The Florida application to receive donation of the ship was reviewed by the Navy and approved in April 2004. The FWC and Escambia County Oriskany Reef project objectives were to utilize the ex-Oriskany as an artificial reef to create a local and 15 | P age
Page 1 and 2: Progress report summarizing the ree
Page 3 and 4: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In compliance wit
Page 5 and 6: LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page No. 1.
Page 7 and 8: I (A) (1) EPA Oriskany Reef PCB Tie
Page 9 and 10: validate the Navy developed PCB fat
Page 11 and 12: that “the numbering standard for
Page 13: ship material leachate experiments
Page 17 and 18: EPA review included: 1) a human hea
Page 19 and 20: I(C)(6) PCB Containing Materials On
Page 21 and 22: I(C) (8) Oriskany Reef Created In a
Page 23 and 24: fishes for the Monitoring Work Plan
Page 25 and 26: I (D) (2) Fishing Vessel Sampling P
Page 27 and 28: long from the top to the mouth of t
Page 29 and 30: During sample round #2 all four che
Page 31 and 32: The rod and reel manpower sampling
Page 33 and 34: was intentionally scheduled after t
Page 35 and 36: weren’t running after each fish w
Page 37 and 38: actually shipped to GERG on Februar
Page 39 and 40: samples during Sampling Rounds 1-8
Page 41 and 42: harvesting at least 15 legal size r
Page 43 and 44: attraction as expressed by an incre
Page 45 and 46: Of these 10 reef assessment dives,
Page 47 and 48: assessments which were limited to t
Page 49 and 50: not considered target species for a
Page 51 and 52: have had any PAH levels approaching
Page 53 and 54: Oriskany, and one recapture at a
Page 55 and 56: ed snapper season commencement. The
Page 57 and 58: Table 8a. List of reef fish species
Page 59 and 60: Oriskany Reef during Sampling Round
Page 61 and 62: Species Composition of Oriskany Sam
Page 63 and 64: The GERG lab reported their receipt
Page 65 and 66:
pectoral fins of the blackfin snapp
Page 67 and 68:
Trophic level or position Trophic p
Page 69 and 70:
that means after five years only 3%
Page 71 and 72:
II (D) (1) (c) Red Snapper Discussi
Page 73 and 74:
1,000,000 ΣPCB (pg/g) a. Sample Da
Page 75 and 76:
The PCB levels measured from red sn
Page 77 and 78:
fins relatively short, not reaching
Page 79 and 80:
Results of PCB analysis by sample d
Page 81 and 82:
ody, these spots giving a yellow-st
Page 83 and 84:
II (D) (3) (c) Red Porgy Discussion
Page 85 and 86:
cheeks that are speckled with brigh
Page 87 and 88:
II (D) (4) (c) Whitebone Porgy Disc
Page 89 and 90:
(common) name. The first spine is l
Page 91 and 92:
II (D) (5) (c) Gray Triggerfish Dis
Page 93 and 94:
The Scamp inhabits continental shel
Page 95 and 96:
Results of PCB analysis by sample d
Page 97 and 98:
species was not among the first 30
Page 99 and 100:
elieved to be unlikely since most o
Page 101 and 102:
trip less than 15% of the time due
Page 103 and 104:
II F (6) (b) Current Florida Marine
Page 105 and 106:
assessment, technological feasibili
Page 107 and 108:
III Oriskany Reef Monitoring Projec
Page 109 and 110:
Fishbase.org (Internet site). 2011.
Page 111 and 112:
Ingram, G.W., Jr. and W.F. Patterso
Page 113 and 114:
Patterson, W. F., J. H. Cowan Jr, e
Page 115 and 116:
Thompson, M.J., W.W. Schroeder, and
Page 117 and 118:
Table 2. FWC Fish Census data taken
Page 119 and 120:
Table 4. Fish census data taken by
Page 121 and 122:
frogfish Antennarius sp.
Page 123 and 124:
eef butterflyfish Chaetodon sedenta
Page 125 and 126:
Vermilion snapper Rhomboplites auro
Page 127 and 128:
OR-RS-042 Red Snapper 4/12/2007 HnL
Page 129 and 130:
OR-RS-155 Red Snapper 11/18/2009 Hn
Page 131 and 132:
Table 14. Tissue sample characteris
Page 133 and 134:
Table 15. Percent composition of to
Page 135 and 136:
Table 16b. Percent composition of t
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Progress report summarizing the reef fish sampling, PCB - Earthjustice

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