PENSACOLA, Florida (6 Dec 2004) -- Environmental issues prevented the Navy from sinking the retired aircraft carrier USS Oriskany in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef this year, but it now is tentatively scheduled to be scuttled on June 25. The ship is expected to arrive in Pensacola around Dec. 18 from Corpus Christi, Texas, where contaminants and potential diving hazards were removed, said Robert Turpin, chief of marine resources for Escambia County. Items removed included the carrier's wooden flight deck, which contained an estimated 700 pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls, an industrial compound known to cause cancer in animals. The ship will remain at Pensacola's port while final preparations are made for its sinking about 25 miles off Pensacola and military officials continue to work with environmental regulators to obtain necessary permits. The 888-foot-long carrier, built at the New York Naval Shipyard in 1945 and a combat veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, would be the largest vessel purposely sunk as a reef. | | USS Oriskany The Navy selected Pensacola over sites proposed by Texas, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina partly because of the city's close ties to naval aviation. The Pensacola Naval Air Station is the Navy's first such installation and has trained thousands of aviators since it was established 90 years ago. SOURCE - Miami Herald |
