Dredge material would be pumped between the ship and shore to increase its ability to block waves, Carnes said. Carnes said the Maritime Administration, which is responsible for disposing of surplus vessels, has run out of options. The agency used to sell outdated ships to salvage yards in the United States, where they would be scrapped for their metal content, Carnes said. But the cost of dealing with the environmental problems associated with the ships -- asbestos insulation, lead-based paint, petroleum products left over in bilges and storage tanks, PCBs and other chemical contaminants -- drove the salvage costs too high.

The Maritime Administration then turned to "shipbreaker" yards overseas, but publicity about their poor environmental and worker protection practices led Congress to decide "the world's environment is just as important as ours," and it ordered a moratorium on that alternative, Carnes said. In its search for other options, Carnes said, it created Ships for Shores, a program that would let the rusting hulks be turned into fishing reefs, or, in Louisiana, become manmade barrier islands.

"I want to assure you that my boss is absolutely 100 percent behind what we're trying to do," Carnes said of Maritime Administrator William Schubert. But several members of the task force, who spend about $50 million per year in federal and state money on wetlands restoration projects in Louisiana, seemed less convinced of the project's worthiness.

"I must say that I'm somewhat underwhelmed by the idea," said Jack Caldwell, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. "Our latest study shows that sinking a ship offshore would have practically no effect on wetlands damage."

Others were concerned about the idea of dozens of abandoned ships acting as breakwaters along the shore.

"I wouldn't want the Louisiana shoreline to look like a demolition derby," said Don Gohmert, regional director of the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Several task force members said the same environmental issues that make the ships difficult to sell to salvage yards would make them dangerous in Louisiana waters.

Rolland Schmitten, director of habitat conservation for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said environmental impact studies would be required, and then the idea still would have to face rigorous technical review and comments from the public.

Gohmert agreed, adding that the environmental hazards cited by Carnes would have to be removed before a ship could be used.

And he also questioned whether something as heavy as a 400-foot ship could be useful, considering the soft wetlands.

"I'm not sure it could even be stable in some of the softer marshes," he said. "It could seem stable one day and the next day it's gone. I think this addresses your problems, but it does not necessarily address ours." Also Thursday, the task force approved four projects that would cost a total of $168 million over 20 years.

The only one that sparked much debate was a proposal to spend $25 million in St. Bernard Parish to build two rock dikes to prevent Lake Borgne from breaking into the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet. The task force agreed to initial planning of the rock structures on the lake and outlet sides, but held off on agreeing to pay for construction of the dike along the outlet until it becomes clear whether that part should be paid for by the Army Corps of Engineers out of money it receives for operating the waterway.

A second project would involve building a pipeline across land on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish to deliver sediment from the river to open water near Bayou Dupont.

A third project, in St. Mary Parish just south of Morgan City, would divert water from Bayou Shaffer to an eroded part of Avoca Island. The fourth project, in Vermilion Parish, would involve building breakwaters along the south shore of White Lake to reduce wave energy that is eroding the shoreline.

Mark Schleifstein can be reached at mschleifstein@timespicayune.com