NOAA program identifying sunken vessels that pose environ mental threats

摘要

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is undertaking a comprehensive effort to identify the sunken vessels along the U.S. coast that represent the most serious threats to the environment. Called Resources and UnderSea Threats (RUST), the program is targeting World War II-era ships that may pose significant pollution threats from oil or other hazardous materials escaping from the deteriorating vessels. A series of serious incidents of oil coming ashore south of San Francisco in the early 1990s led to major wildlife disasters between 1997 and 2002 in NOAAs Gulf of Farallones NationalrnMaritime Sanctuary. The oil killed 51,000 sea birds, eight sea otters and fouled 40,000 square miles of shore tidal flats.