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Barge-scale cleanup in the Delta

Posted by: Maven on March 20, 2010 at 6:09 am

delta cleanupFrom CNET News:

“Hundreds of abandoned vessels of varying sizes and stages of decay litter the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta’s 738,000 acres. Marine debris, some of which is decades old, is polluting the same waterways that provide drinking water to two-thirds of California with oil, hydraulic fuels, paints, and asbestos.

To address the issue, state waste management agency CalRecycle has teamed up with the State Water Resources Control Board and the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department to eliminate these hazards from the system of natural and man-made water channels. But hauling out old boats, barges, and buildings is no easy feat.

The heavy equipment needed to break up, haul, and tow the debris, some of which is as large as houses, must be negotiated through the complex system of waterways with 10-ton vehicles moved to soft-soiled islands on barges. Managing the cleanup, commercial divers and work crews transport the materials to the appropriate disposal and recycling facilities.”

Check out this photo gallery from CNET by clicking here. More photos from CNET here.

From the Contra Costa Times:

“Sunny skies heralded a beautiful spring morning on the Delta, but along its waterways there was ugliness. Contra Costa County sheriff’s boats passed eyesore after eyesore last week as they wended their way toward Fisherman’s Cut, where another effort to remove junk from the San Joaquin River was under way.

On one side of the channel a crane was parked on a derelict barge; fire had all but destroyed a few more. Farther upstream, two tiny dilapidated houses sat on docks in the middle of the river.

But over the next few weeks, much of the blight and the dangers it poses will be disappearing. “All these ratty structures, they’re all going to come out,” said sheriff’s Deputy Jim Lambert of the agency’s Oakley-based marine patrol unit. … “

Continue reading this story from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.

March 20, 2010 · Filed Under Delta Issues

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