EBMUD sets ‘loggers’ to listen for leaks
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 31, 2008 at 6:39 amFrom the San Francisco Chronicle:
In the middle of the night, when most of Berkeley is sleeping, hundreds of underground objects are listening for sounds that people can’t hear. They haven’t been planted by terrorists, spies, FBI agents or mystics. Instead, the East Bay Municipal Utility District is installing the acoustic devices, known as “loggers,” in an unprecedented pilot project to conserve water by finding leaks in water mains before they surface.
The effort was conceived of before the drought, but has taken on added urgency because of it. Within a few months, the loggers will be all over town. More than 300 are in place, with as many as 900 yet to come.
“You can hear a water leak before you see it,” said David Wallenstein, an associate engineer in the utility’s water department who is overseeing the project. “And nighttime is the best time to hear leaks. It’s supposed to be quiet then, and you can detect noise when there shouldn’t be noise.”
The noise made by leaks travels nicely in metal pipes, Wallenstein said, and is distinct from the normal flow in a water main, which is fairly subdued. “The loggers are looking for loudness and consistency,” he said. “They’re looking for something continuous - not someone taking a shower.”
Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.
San Joaquin County asks Tracy to oppose Delta plan
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 31, 2008 at 6:02 amFrom the Tri-Valley Herald:
The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors has asked the city of Tracy to pass a resolution opposing the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force recommendations for the Delta.
In a letter to Tracy Mayor Brent Ives, the board expressed “numerous and substantial” concerns about the conclusions reached by the task force this year, but mainly focused on three: that the recommendations promote an “isolated or dual conveyance system” or peripheral canal; ignore 100-year-old water rights; and fail to adhere to the state’s water plan.
The City Council is expected to discuss the matter at its regular meeting, at 7 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall.
“Although an isolated or dual conveyance system in the Delta could potentially provide a higher quality water supply via the Delta Mendota Canal to the City of Tracy, the numerous other concerns outweigh this benefit,” city staff members wrote.
According to a staff report, the cities of Lathrop, Ripon, Lodi and Manteca have passed similar resolutions supporting the board.
Read more from the Tri-Valley Herald by clicking here.
Arizona mulls new water source: Ocean; Mexican city considers desalination plant; U.S. partnership a possibility
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 31, 2008 at 5:57 amFrom the Arizona Republic:
The water for Arizona’s future needs may lie off the coast of a popular Mexican resort, in the Gulf of California.
State officials are studying the idea of importing filtered ocean water from an as yet unbuilt desalination plant in Puerto Peñasco, 60 miles south of the U.S. border. The water - potentially billions of gallons a year - would help sustain urban supplies in Arizona and could someday bring relief to rural residents, who have long sought a water source to replace rapidly depleting aquifers.
A Scottsdale company already is looking at possible designs for the plant in Puerto Peñasco, where overworked groundwater wells are on the verge of running dry. Arizona water managers see an opening for the state to team up with the seaside resort on a larger plant to serve both countries.
Such a project would raise a host of political, economic and environmental issues, and it’s not clear who would pay the construction costs, which could top $250 billion.But if backers can clear those hurdles, Arizona and neighboring states could tap a plentiful supply of water largely immune to the effects of drought and climate change.
“Desalinated ocean water is the future sustainable source,” said Herb Guenther, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. “It’s only logical that eventually we’ll migrate toward it. We don’t need interim supplies now. We need a permanent supply.”
Read more from the Arizona Republic by clicking here.
The ethanol economy: plant will convert green waste to ethanol, using reclaimed water
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 31, 2008 at 5:50 amFrom the Daily Breeze:
Californians are fed up with high fuel prices, but some relief may finally be in sight. The ethanol industry is revving up to boost the supply of its renewable fuel in Los Angeles County. And the technology has advanced to the point that there are really few downsides to moving forward.
The idea is to transform urban green waste headed for landfills into ethanol through a process that generates little pollution. Ethanol can be either blended with regular gasoline as a clean-fuel additive or used to create E85 gas for so-called flex-fueled cars. (E85 is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.)
Irvine-based BlueFire Ethanol has already received a permit to build a $30million ethanol plant near a landfill in Lancaster. Once the plant is operating next year, it will take in green municipal wastes, such as non-recyclable paper, grass clippings, wood chips, construction debris and straw, and process it into ethanol.
Arnold Klann, BlueFire’s chief executive officer, said the plant would process a batch of urban green waste into ethanol in only 18 hours. For each ton of waste that is fed into the plant, 70 gallons of ethanol are produced - at an operational cost of under $1 a gallon. The plant won’t be a strain on drought-plagued Southern California’s water resources either because it will use reclaimed water.
Read more from the Daily Breeze by clicking here.
Marine Protected Areas are essential to California
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 1:39 pmFrom the Contra Costa Times, this commentary by Bob Breen, a ranger-naturalist at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve:
THE CALIFORNIA COAST has been called one of the most biodiverse marine ecosystems in the world. Our coast needs the protection that meets standards set by most marine scientists that fully protects recreational and educational opportunities, as well as enhances depleted fisheries.
Marine Protected Areas, areas of the ocean that allow marine animals and plants to flourish undisturbed, will allow our oceans to absorb the shocks of change. And make no mistake; we are living in a time of change.
Climate change has already arrived on the California coast. During my 40 years as a student and ranger-naturalist at Moss Beach, I saw changes to plant and animal life firsthand.
Warm water species of sea anemone, worms, and barnacles have moved in, and the leafy cold-water seaweed has been replaced by algal turf reminiscent of Southern California.
Other researchers have found similar results with fish, abalone and snail populations.
California needs a network of Marine Protected Areas. MPAs are an adaptive ocean management strategy that considers the entire ocean ecosystem and maintains it in a healthy, productive and resilient condition. MPAs are good for fish, but they are also good for people. They provide a place for visitors to study, kayak, dive and surf. Like undersea parks, MPAs allow plants and animals to flourish with minimal disturbance, and allow people to experience nature close at hand.
Read more from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.
Rainwater collectors work to ease shortages
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 1:37 pmFrom the Associated Press:
Tara Hui climbed under her deck, nudged past a cluster of 55-gallon barrels and a roosting chicken, and pointed to a shiny metal gutter spout. “See that?” she said. “That’s where the rainwater comes in from the roof.”
Hui is one of a growing band of people across the country turning to collected rainwater for non-drinking uses like watering plants, flushing toilets and washing laundry. Concern over drought and wasted resources, and stricter water conservation laws have revitalized the practice of capturing rainwater during storms and stockpiling it for use in drier times. A fixture of building design in the Roman empire and in outposts along the American frontier, rainwater harvesting is making a comeback in states including Texas, North Carolina, and California.
“We call it ‘the movement that’s taking the nation by storm,’” said Robyn Hadley, spokeswoman for the Austin, Texas-based American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association, whose membership has jumped by more than 40 percent this year.
Hui, 37, got her first 55-gallon plastic barrel for free five years ago. The barrel had been packed with maraschino cherries, so when rain first filled it the water smelled like candied fruit. Now, she has a daisy chain of 25 linked barrels under her back deck with a combined capacity of nearly 1,250 gallons. She built the system herself, after searching the Internet for information and buying the necessary plumbing parts at a hardware store. The whole setup cost her $200.
Read more from the Associated Press by clicking here.
Assembly OKs water bill despite lack of a budget
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 1:35 pmFrom the Woodland Daily Democrat:
Acting Thursday, during a special legislative session on water, the State Assembly approved a proposal to spend prior voter approved bonds on urgently-needed water storage, reliability, and conservation efforts. Senate Bill 1xx by Senate Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, appropriates about $820 million in funds from bonds including Proposition 84 and Proposition 1E, which voters passed in 2006.
Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, chairwoman of the Assembly’s Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee and Special Committee on Water, presented the bill on the Assembly floor.
“This measure is a first step to providing Californians throughout the state with a safe, reliable, long-term water supply,” she said. “It is essential that we allocate these funds immediately in response to the state’s most urgent needs.”
SB 1xx makes a number of appropriations, most significantly $325 million to help stabilize the Sacramento San Joaquin Bay Delta, which supplies roughly two-thirds of the state with drinking water, and is the heart of California’s water and agricultural system.
Read more from the Woodland Daily Democrat by clicking here.
Bad bonds and good legislation: special committee on water gets an earful
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 1:20 pmFrom the California Progress Report:
On Tuesday, the Assembly Special Committee on Water passed two strong water bills to the Assembly Floor and also heard testimony from many parties who have serious concerns about proposals to place a nearly $10 billion water bond on the November ballot.
The committee’s first order of business was to pass SBX2 1 (Perata), which appropriates existing bond funds for much needed ecosystem restoration, water quality, and water supply reliability projects, and ABX2 7 (Wolk) , which ensures water planning and management will incorporate existing information on the impacts of climate change to water resources. SBX2 1 subsequently passed off of the Assembly Floor on Thursday and ABX2 7 is scheduled to be heard on the Assembly Floor on Friday. Both of these bills have garnered broad support and are priority bills for the environmental community.
The committee then turned its attention to an informational hearing on the Assembly water bond proposal, ABX2 8, and the bond proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. Both these proposals would provide over $9 billion in bond funds. Both include $3 billion for highly controversial water storage projects including new dams. The informational hearing consisted of several panels of stakeholders giving their input on the water proposals.
Read more from the California Progress Report by clicking here.
Western Municipal Water District board to consider average rate increase of about 13 percent
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 1:15 pmFrom the Riverside Press-Enterprise:
Western Municipal Water District customers could see higher bills starting in October. The district’s board on Wednesday will consider a proposed water rate increase at a 6 p.m. public hearing. The proposed increase will vary depending on the area, but on average customers in the Riverside area will see an increase of about 13 percent.
Customers in the Murrieta area will see an average increase of 5 percent, said General Manager John Rossi. The increase in the Murrieta area is significantly lower because customers there are already paying more for water, he said. The district serves about 20,000 customers in the Riverside area and 2,400 customers in the Murrieta area. Last year, the district raised rates for the first time in nine years, Rossi said.
As the state faces a water shortage, Western is paying more for its water. Western buys most of its water from the Metropolitan Water District, which raises its rates every year, Rossi said. In January, MWD’s rates will increase by 14 percent partly because the district has to purchase additional water supplies. A judge cut water supplies from the Sacramento Delta by about one-third last December to protect a threatened fish. Another key supply for Southern California, the Colorado River, is experiencing an eight-year drought.
“It’s not business as usual with our water supply,” Rossi said. “In dry times, water is worth a lot more and is sold at a higher price.”
Read the rest of this article from the Press-Enterprise by clicking here.
Water battles expand
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 7:54 amFrom the Capital Press, an article about how the various stakeholders are becoming involved in complex water issues:
In the broader water supply context of dams, storage and conveyances, two researchers at the University of California Giannini Foundation have filed a report they hope will help clarify and perhaps improve the negotiation process by all entities in the water debate.
It was written by Leo Simon, an adjunct professor in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics at UC Berkeley, and Susan Stratton, a Ph.D candidate in that department. It appeared in the May/June issue of ARE’s Update publication.
Simon and Stratton lump the widely diverse groups involved in the water supply equation into three categories: environmentalists, taxpayers and water users. They recognize that those in each category overlap the others, but suggest it is a starting point to bring about sensible negotiation.
Their next step is identification of the three major areas requiring expenditure of funds: categories already earmarked for spending, a scheme for sharing the expense and allocation of available water. They promise to expand the scope of their report, perhaps within a year, offering greater detail.
Read more from the Capital Press by clicking here. You can read the report, which is only about 2 pages long, by clicking here.
San Vicente Reservoir’s renovation: San Diego, water agency officials work to resolve concerns
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 7:24 amFrom the San Diego Union-Tribune:
A massive project to increase water storage at East County’s San Vicente Reservoir has taken on added importance as the region copes with tightening water supplies. Starting Tuesday, the reservoir will close to the public for up to nine years so crews can complete what the San Diego County Water Authority is calling the largest dam raise in the country.
The reservoir will continue to supply water to San Diego residents during construction, though boaters, wake-boarders and water-skiers will have to find somewhere else to go. San Diego city officials have questioned whether the region will have enough storage during the project and whether plans are adequate for maintaining water quality.
City officials say they are working with the water authority to resolve the concerns, and officials from both agencies say having the extra storage will benefit the region. “Once we get past this, these projects will add a great deal of reliability to the city of San Diego but also to the region,” said Jesus Meda, operations and engineering program manager for the city’s water department.
The $568 million effort is part of a $1 billion-plus project by the water authority to create new emergency storage and pipeline connections if the region’s imported water supply is cut off.
Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune by clicking here.
South San Joaquin Irrigation District considers anaerobic digester
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 7:20 amFrom Biomass Magazine:
The South San Joaquin Irrigation District, which provides irrigation water for the agricultural areas surrounding the cities of Escalon, Ripon, and Manteca in California, has begun a feasibility study to determine if the district should build an anaerobic digester to assist area dairy farmers, as well as produce and sell electricity. SSJID is considering a proposal to build a digester for Brasil & Sons Dairy Inc. in Escalon, which has 2,850 cattle that could supply feedstock for the facility.
Because the San Joaquin Valley has air quality problems and dairy operations contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, building an anaerobic digester in the district is not a new idea for the area, according to Jeff Shields, general manager for SSJID. There are as many as 120,000 head of cattle in the valley that contribute to the problem, he said. “Our interest is in helping dairy farmers deal with that,” Shields said. “To the extent that any of those facilities individually or collectively might represent 700 to 1,000 head of cattle, it might make sense for anaerobic digestion to be developed here.”
Read more from Biomass Magazine by clicking here.
SSJID may help Oakdale farmers with extra water
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 7:14 amFrom the Manteca Bulletin:
South San Joaquin Irrigation District is giving the neighboring Oakdale Irrigation District first crack at extra water supplies they’ve amassed due to conservation efforts. The SSJID expects to have in excess of 30,000 acre-feet - or enough water to take care of the needs of 120,000 typical California families for a year - when the irrigation season ends this fall.
SSJID director Robert Schulz suggested the SSJID offer OID water if it is needed this year to make sure crops don’t suffer damage. In exchange OID could replace the water at the start of the 2009 irrigation season. The OID is struggling to meet its water deliveries. Unlike SSJID, it doesn’t have a large storage unit off the Stanislaus River like the SSJID has with the Woodward Reservoir.
The two districts have operated partnerships on the Stanislaus River dating back over 90 years with the building of the original Melones Dam. They have also been partners on the Tri-Dam Project - a series of three reservoirs and hydroelectric plants on the Stanislaus River for - 54 years.
The savings projected at more than 30,000 acre feet of water is the direct result of SSJID division managers successfully executing water conservation measures the board put in place in May. An acre-foot consists of 325,851.4 gallons of water or enough to meet the needs of four typical families in California for a year.
Read more from the Manteca Bulletin by clicking here.
Court restores clean water protections in Southern California; Order blocking government enforcement of water quality standards reversed
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 7:11 amFrom the National Resources Defense Council, this press release:
Ruling on a post-trial motion by environmental groups, an Orange County Superior Court yesterday reversed the part of a July 2, 2008 judgment that blocked the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board from enforcing many water quality standards that control Southern California’s worst source of water pollution, storm water runoff.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), on behalf of itself, Heal the Bay, and Santa Monica Baykeeper, intervened in the case earlier this year after Judge Thierry Patrick Colaw ruled the water board did not follow the proper procedure when it applied water quality standards for Los Angeles and Ventura County waterways to control polluted runoff. The July 2 ruling suspended the water board’s ability to enforce many water quality standards to control storm water runoff pending further review of standards by the board. Water quality standards play a pivotal rule in pollution control because they serve as legal limits on the amount of dangerous pollutants, such as bacteria and toxic chemicals, that can be discharged to local waterways.
In post-trial motions and objections filed this summer, NRDC, Heal the Bay, and Baykeeper argued that preventing the water board from enforcing the standards, even temporarily, would be harmful to the environment and public health. In yesterday’s decision, Judge Colaw agreed that halting enforcement or application of the water quality standards pending review by the water boards could have “unintended consequences which cannot be predicted.”
The environmental groups are reviewing aspects of the July 2 judgment left in place by the Court finding that the water board failed to abide by proper procedure when it applied water quality standards to storm water.
Following is a statement by David Beckman, lead counsel and co-director of NRDC’s Water Program:
“Today’s decision means that California can get back to enforcing indispensable clean water standards that protect people from getting sick at local beaches and wildlife from toxicity in local waterways. These standards protect drinking water supplies, people at the beach, and fish in our rivers, so this is great news for everyone in Southern California.”
Read more from the NRDC by clicking here.
Water wasters will get fined in San Juan Capistrano
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 7:08 amFrom the O.C. Register:
With new pressures on traditional water supplies, San Juan Capistrano is asking its residents to conserve water like never before. A new ordinance taking effect in September will, for example, require residents to wash their cars with either an automatic-shutoff nozzle or with a rag and water bucket. Irrigation will be limited to mornings and evenings. Sidewalks and driveways can no longer be hosed off.
The point of the restrictions is to protect the daily water supply and minimize water runoff into the ocean, said Francie Kennedy, San Juan water conservation coordinator. And the restrictions are not just for dry seasons like this one.
“Conservation is going to become a part of our future, drought or no drought,” Kennedy said.
Read more from the O.C. Register by clicking here.
Sea turtles explore new, urban frontier; Scientists are closely studying the progress of two breakaway colonies that have settled in the San Gabriel River and San Diego Bay
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 7:05 amFrom the Los Angeles Times:
In the foamy chop of the warm-water discharge flowing into the San Gabriel River from a Long Beach power plant, a green sea turtle, wide as a manhole cover, materialized Friday just a few yards from shore. A few minutes later, an even larger sea turtle surfaced in the murky water near the plant’s thicket of steel scaffolding, steam vents and transmission lines.
Green sea turtles usually have tropical haunts — teeming coral reefs or white sandy beaches where they lay eggs — but these chunky titans live more than a mile upstream in one of Southern California’s most ecologically degraded rivers.
Little is known about the colony of at least six urban sea turtles. But a joint study by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Aquarium of the Pacific aims to determine, among other things, what they’re doing in there.
“Right now, it’s a small group of what might be considered oddball turtles,” said Peter Dutton, a senior researcher with the fisheries service. “But we have a lot to learn about them. Are they part of a more complex sea-turtle migration dynamic than we ever imagined, or just lost wanderers?”
Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
Spawning salmon traumatized by fishing technique
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 6:56 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
Fishermen are targeting salmon returning to spawn in the American River and other Central Valley streams, despite a virtual ban on all salmon fishing this year. Even worse, some anglers are using a technique called “flossing,” intended to hook salmon in the body, fin or face. The method is considered unethical by many fishermen. It appears to slip through a loophole in regulations designed to protect salmon. “They’re traumatizing these big fish,” said Alan Weingarten, a state Department of Fish and Game warden who has observed the practice on the American River.
In May, commercial and recreational fishing was banned at sea and in Central Valley rivers, but not specifically ‘catch and release’; instead anglers were urged to “use a very conservative approach” and “refrain from any catch-and-release fishing that specifically targets salmon.”
Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
CSUN is leading the charge in mapping of the wetlands
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 6:47 am
From the Los Angeles Daily News:
PORT HUENEME - Armed with maps and high-tech compasses, the young scientists stared out into the vast tan landscape. Just a century ago, this swath of coastal land was teeming with small creeks and streams, moist soil and dozens of animal species. But today, a large section of Ormond Beach’s wetlands is more dry than wet. Ringed by factories, the wetlands’ dirt hills and dry grass mounds are the final resting place for a graffiti-covered train on a forgotten railroad. “It’s just a remnant of what it used to be,” professor Shawna Dark said to her team of students.
The wetlands’ poor condition only makes Dark, a geography professor at California State University, Northridge, and her students more determined to complete their mission. The group is working on CSUN’s Southern California Wetlands Mapping Project, to produce the Southland’s first comprehensive map of the rapidly disappearing marshy plots of land that Dark says are vital to the region’s ecology.
“Historically, wetlands were seen as wastelands, swamps,” Dark said. “They were associated with malaria and vectors and even the earliest settlers made it their mission to quickly develop over these areas.” The result: Southern California has lost 95 percent of its wetland areas.
Groups such as the California Coastal Commission and the Nature Conservancy, working with the CSUN group, have ramped up efforts to buy plots of wetlands in an effort to conserve and restore these areas over the past few decades.
Rich Handley, a Nature Conservancy land manager in the Los Angeles and Ventura area who is responsible for overseeing the Ormond Beach wetlands, said in this area alone he has discovered colonies of at least seven endangered species.
“California snowy plovers, brown pelicans, northern harriers and Belding’s Savannah sparrows - many of these are species endemic to the wetlands of Southern California,” Handley said. “A lot of times this is referred to as the hidden gem of Oxnard. It’s something we need more people to be aware of.”
Read more from the Daily News by clicking here.
Delta landowners distrust canal study; Meetings show access to property would be an issue
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 29, 2008 at 4:41 pmFrom the Capital Press:
The push to build a peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has never been stronger, and delta farmers fear that such a waterway would destroy their way of life. They’re not about to roll over lightly.
The state has been holding meetings with delta landowners so engineers can get permission to traipse across their property to see if their farm might be a good place to dig. If last week’s meeting in Walnut Grove is any indication, getting that permission could prove difficult.
“Why should I allow you to come on my property?” asked Clarksburg alfalfa and wheat farmer Jeff Merwin. “I see absolutely no upside to that. None. You guys are like rapists knocking at the door, saying “let me in!’”
Merwin expressed the frustration the roughly 150 farmers and landowners in and around the Clarksburg-Walnut Grove area say they feel with the state Department of Water Resources, which is looking at several possible routes for a canal.
Merwin and others in the delta are getting the sense that a canal is inevitable. “I have a feeling that if I say “no’ and you need to study my property, you’re going to do it anyway,” he said.
Water Resources director Lester Snow said his department is doing everything it can to answer landowners’ fears and to set up individual deals with each one to gain access to do their testing. If push comes to shove, “We can go to court and seek temporary access to the property - by individual parcel,” Snow said.
Read more from Hank Shaw at the Capital Press by clicking here.
Water board sues U.S. over mothball fleet
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 29, 2008 at 4:35 pm
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
A regional water board is readying a lawsuit against the U.S. Maritime Administration claiming federal authorities have allowed toxic chemicals and metals from the mothball fleet to continue to leach into Suisun Bay.
The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board contends the 50-plus decrepit ships - some cargo ships dating to World War II - have dumped asbestos, used oil and as much as 19 tons of mercury, lead and copper from their hulls and pose hazards to water quality, commercial and sport fishing, fish migration and endangered species.
Unless federal maritime officials halt the pollution discharges in 60 days, the water board plans to file suit in U.S. District Court in Sacramento under the Clean Water Act.
Last fall, three environmental organizations sued to force the Maritime Administration to remove the ships from Suisun Bay. That case is winding its way through the federal court in Sacramento and is on track for a September 2009 trial date. Meantime, the ships remain - about 57 considered badly corroded.
More from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.
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