Judge Blocks 'Ghost Fleet' Ships
Some ships in the U.S. 'ghost fleet' have been anchored in the James River in Virginia for decades
by Author, News Source
3 October 2003 (Washington) – A federal judge blocked the government on Thursday from moving some rusty old ships from the James River in Virginia to England to be dismantled.
U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer said the U.S. Maritime Administration had not done environmental studies as required by law.
The administration had planned to begin moving the first of 13 ships, which contain about 3,000 tons of fuel and 100 tons of PCBs, this week.
Collyer said that she would not stop the removal of four ships, which the Coast Guard has said are seaworthy and can be safely towed 4,500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. Environmental studies should be done on the remaining nine, she said.
The ships are among the James River "Ghost Fleet," about 100 large cargo and military-support ships that are anchored off Fort Eustis in Newport News, Va.
Environmental groups sued after the government announced plans to transport 13 of the most fragile vessels to a shipyard in Teesside, England, off the North Sea.
Collyer said she will hear arguments later this month on whether the transportation violates federal law.
She praised the Maritime Administration for working with Congress to address problems with the James River fleet, but wrote in Thursday's order, "There is no statute to excuse (the Maritime Administration's) failure to conform fully to the nation's environmental laws while exporting the remaining ships."
The suit was filed by the Sierra Club and the Basel Action Network.
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