The Caloosahatchee and the Canisteo could have started their 4,500-mile journey across the Atlantic as early as today if the Coast Guard had completed its review of the ships' strucptural integrity.

Officials with the Maritime Administration, which oversees the collection of nearly 100 vessels in the James River Reserve Fleet, said the towing schedule was not affected by a threat environmental groups raised this week to seek a federal court order blocking the transfer.

That's not the only legal complication involving the fleet that includes ships in decrepit condition and some that are merely mothballed in storage. A James City County lawyer notified federal officials this week that he too plans to sue the Maritime Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency over the ships. But his suit would seek to have the most toxic vessels in the river removed faster.

Loaded with oil, gas, asbestos, PCBs and other toxins, many of the ghost fleet ships anchored near Fort Eustis pose environmental hazards.

"We continue with our plans for the tow," said Robyn Boerst-ling, a spokesperson with the Maritime Administration in Washington. "As long as the safety and security requirements are in place."

The Maritime Administration did not know the specific reason for the holdup, and officials at Post-Service Remediation Partners - the New York-based company that is coordinating the deal with British scrap company, Able UK - were unavailable for comment.

The postponement comes, though, as Hurricane Isabel threatens to move up the Eastern Seaboard, a development that could pose hazards for the slow-moving dilapidated ships.

The Basel Action Network and the Sierra Club notified the EPA on Tuesday that they plan to seek a federal court order to block moving the obsolete ships to the U.K. for scrapping. While not the cause of the delay, the groups were happy to have extra time.

"It's good news for us," said Jim Puckett, director of the Seattle-based Basal Action Network. "It gives us time to get our ducks in a row and try and stop this."

The environmental activists said that the EPA illegally granted the waiver allowing the Maritime Administration to export the ships that are filled with toxic materials. In addition to the environmental dangers, Puckett said the tow to England would set a precedent and allow other ships to be sent to countries such as China that offer cheap labor and less stringent environmental regulations.

Joining the fray, maritime lawyer Morton Clark - who lives within sight of the fleet - sent out formal notices this week regarding his intent to sue the maritime agency and the EPA. The Kingsmill resident said he will file a citizen's suit in U.S. District Court in Norfolk in 90 days, based on the "imminent danger of substantial environmental damage" that the fleet poses.

In his legal notice, Clark said EPA regulations enacted in 1995 prohibiting the Maritime Administration from selling ships for scrap without first removing all toxic PCBs from the vessels have hampered efforts to dispose of the obsolete ships.

Clark - who said the lawsuit would be filed in his wife's name - criticized groups like the Sierra Club for opposing the transfer of the ships to England.

"All of us here on the river whether it's Newport News, Surry or James City County, should be concerned as hell about it," Clark said. "We need to move the ships away from here."

Boerstling said the Maritime Administration received the second lawsuit but declined to comment. But environmentalists acknowledged Clark's frustration.

"That doesn't surprise us," said Michael Town, director of the Sierra Club's Virginia chapter. "Our position is to get the ships off the river, we just don't want to send them out into the ocean."

Maritime agency officials stressed that the nature of the towing caused the delay and said that emergency generators and global-positioning systems for both ships were en route to Newport News to prepare the vessels for the trip to an Able UK scrap yard in Teesside, England.

"There is no set schedule and there's a lot of back and forth," Boerstling said. "It's in everybody's best interests to make sure this is done in the safest way possible."

The $17.8 million contract, which includes two Navy oil tankers that could be sold later for millions of dollars, calls for all 13 of the vessels to be removed by the end of October.

Staff writer Dave Schleck contributed to this report.

Kimball Payne can be reached at 247-4765 or by email at kpayne@dailypress.com