Boxer, Miller Praise New Efforts by Obama Administration to Remove Mothball Fleet in Suisun Bay

WASHINGTON, DC – Ending years of bureaucratic delay, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) today hailed a major step forward in removing and recycling the troubled Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet as federal and state officials announced plans to remove two ships by the end of the year.

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s plans call for vessels in the worst condition to be given priority in the process. The Earlham Victory and the Pan American Victory, cargo ships built in Richmond, CA, in 1945, will be the first to be removed. Each ship will be dry-docked and cleaned at a San Francisco Bay shipyard, before being towed to Brownsville, Texas to be recycled.

Senator Boxer said, "I am pleased that the Administration is taking a fresh look at the ships in Suisun Bay and implementing a plan to remove them. We still have work to do, but today's announcement makes much-needed progress."

“I commend the Obama Administration and Deputy Secretary Porcari for coming up with a plan to deal with this very difficult problem after years of delay by the Bush Administration,” said Miller, whose congressional district includes Suisan Bay. “Today’s announcement presents a much-needed change in policy and a critical first step towards disposing of the Suisun Reserve Fleet ships properly and removing this source of pollution from the Bay.

“The Bush administration did everything it could to ignore this problem and shut the local community and the state of California out of the process,” Miller added. “But it’s clear that the new Administration is committed to removing the toxic ships from of the Bay. It is my hope that by taking this initial step, the Administration will continue to move this process forward until the issue is completely resolved and the mothball fleet is cleaned up.”

The mothball fleet, officially termed the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, has sat idle in the Bay for decades. Recent reports indicate the ships have leached toxic substances and contaminated Delta water. Previous efforts to remove the ships have gone unfinished. Under the Bush Administration, the U.S. Maritime Administration first slowed and then stalled efforts to remove the fleet and recycle the ships. Miller and Boxer have worked together, along with Senator Dianne Feinstein and former Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher, to get the Department of Transportation to solve this problem.

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