Asbestos may prevent restoration of old navy ship

Washtenaw County, Michigan - An effort to restore an old Navy ship is being delayed due to money shortages. The high cost of restoration includes money for asbestos abatement, as the substance was heavily used in Navy vessels during much of the twentieth century. The ship in question is the USS Washtenaw County, which served in the Vietnam War. The ship is currently docked on the Columbia River downstream from Rainier, Oregon. Due to environmental concerns, such as the presence of asbestos on the ship, it can’t be towed to sea and sunk, and due to money shortages, restoration can’t be completed. The USS Washtenaw County is the only Navy ship which bears that name. The vessel is an LST, a flat-bottomed ship designed to effectively navigate rivers, and land on beaches when troops or equipment need unloading. She earned more than twenty distinctions for her Vietnam War service, including earned 13 battle stars, two Presidential Unit Citations, two Navy Unit Commendations, and four Meritorious Unit Commendations. Walt James of Portland, Oregon is a member of the company which owns the ship. He says the chances of restoration being completed are slim, to the projected cost of the project, which could be as high as one million dollars. Currently the restoration fund totals just $14,000. Since the USS Washtenaw County was decommissioned in 1973, she has been bought and resold a number of times. It was finally purchased by the Amphibious Forces Memorial Museum in Vancouver, Wash., in 2005, a partnership comprising Walt James and two associates. They had planned to restore the ship, but the unexpectedly high cost, together with the problems caused by theft and damage to the ship, has prevented the project from moving ahead. Much of the current trouble is due to the theft of valuable metal from the ship with around $100,000, and damage to the ship’s engine room caused by the thieves. In addition, there is asbestos and other toxins present on the ship, which contributes to the high cost restoration. Walt James has already put $20,000 of his own money into the fund, and says the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is now pressuring him to move the ship from its current location on the Columbia River. However, the Coast Guard is telling him exactly the opposite: that the presence of asbestos, PCBs, and oil on the ship means it can’t be moved. The EPA has also told him that the ship can’t be sunk at sea due to the presence of those toxins. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)