Saturday, December 29, 2007

USS Oriskany...Sinking Things


USS Oriskany (CV-34, later CVA-34 and CV-34), 1950-1994\r\nEx-Oriskany was the first warship slated to become an artificial reef, under authority granted by the fiscal 2004 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 108-136). She was originally slated to be sunk with controlled charges 24 miles south of Pensacola on 25 June 2005. Oil, paint and asbestos had been removed but the ship still contained considerable amounts of PCB. Delays in environmental studies resulted in the postponement of her sinking. In February of 2006, however, the Environmental Protection Agency gave its final approval to sink the ship, and Oriskany was scuttled in 210 feet (65 m) of water in the Gulf of Mexico on 17 May 2006. (From WikiPedia)