NHC and the Enviroment
Sun Feb 13, 2005 12:34 pm
Now first off I have to say, I'm no eco-terrorist. Not that I don't like my trees(My Grandfather being Paul Bunion, and all!). And playing devils advocate 
I can "almost" understand the NHC's position that aircraft crash sites and naval shipwreaks are historic sites and should be left alone 
. BUT, what about the enviromental concerns? All these pieces of once fine machinery are now sitting out in the open or worse, under a body of water. And most if not all were carring a fair amount of fuel and lubricants, which may or may not still be leaking out after all these years(look at the U.S.S. Arizona). Not to mention the the different metals that are corroding and also leaching into the enviroment. 
I know that in Maine, if you have a fuel spill, everything from removing the spilled item to removing the contaminated ground is required. And any one loosing a snowmobile or car in a lake or river is responsable for said recovery. And every military base that closes seems to become a Superfund site, requiring millions of dollars to clean up before being handed over to civillian control.
Now I know that it's just not feasable to recover and clean up every wreak, but, I would think that a concerted effort by parties interested in recovering ships and aircraft would help to aleviate some of this contamination. Not to mention the money it would save the government ( under the NHC's own rules that these artifacts have to be preserved, not Bulldosed into a more suitable landfill
) in the event that these site have to be decontaminated. I'm ready to do my part for the ENVIROMENT, ARE YOU!
I can "almost" understand the NHC's position that aircraft crash sites and naval shipwreaks are historic sites and should be left alone . BUT, what about the enviromental concerns? All these pieces of once fine machinery are now sitting out in the open or worse, under a body of water. And most if not all were carring a fair amount of fuel and lubricants, which may or may not still be leaking out after all these years(look at the U.S.S. Arizona). Not to mention the the different metals that are corroding and also leaching into the enviroment. I know that in Maine, if you have a fuel spill, everything from removing the spilled item to removing the contaminated ground is required. And any one loosing a snowmobile or car in a lake or river is responsable for said recovery. And every military base that closes seems to become a Superfund site, requiring millions of dollars to clean up before being handed over to civillian control.
Now I know that it's just not feasable to recover and clean up every wreak, but, I would think that a concerted effort by parties interested in recovering ships and aircraft would help to aleviate some of this contamination. Not to mention the money it would save the government ( under the NHC's own rules that these artifacts have to be preserved, not Bulldosed into a more suitable landfill
) in the event that these site have to be decontaminated. I'm ready to do my part for the ENVIROMENT, ARE YOU!