A WORKING DRY DOCK IN
RICHMOND
and How to Scrap the Suisun Mothball Fleet
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September
17, 2007 - Iinterest
in shipbuilding and ship breaking at the
historic Shipyard 3 drydocks continues.
See
the September 13 story in the Contra Costa
Times by Thomas Peele.
At least two high-powered
industrial groups have visited the drydocks
with an eye on reviving them. First were Frank
Foti and Joe O'Rourke of Vigor Industrial,
LLC, (Vigor), www.vigorindustrial.net and
John Graykowski of International Shipbreaking
Limited, LLC, (ISL), www.shiprecycling.com.
Vigor Industrial, LLC, is a leading ship repair
and marine construction company headquartered
in Portland, Oregon, with operations in Portland,
Puget Sound, and the San Francisco Bay Area. International
Shipbreaking Limited, LLC, located in Brownsville,
Texas, is the largest ship recycling company
in the United States, and has recycled
38 vessels for the Maritime Administration,
the U.S. Navy, and commercial customers.
Second was a team
headed by Stas Margaronis of Santa
Maria Shipping, who brought in experts
from Europe and hired a team of divers to explore
the condition of the drydocks.
Use of the drydocks
for ship construction or dismantling could
bring hundreds of jobs to Richmond for which
local residents could be trained. - Richmond
Councilmember Tom Butt
|
September
11, 2007: RESOLUTION
OF THE CITY COUNCIL ON REHAB OF BUILDINGS AT SHIPYARD
3 >>
July
10, 2007: Revival
of Historic Richmond Dry Docks for Ship Dismantling
Gains Traction
Ship-disposal discord - Article in the Contra Costa Times quoted in Tom Butt
E-Forum >>
Much has been written
recently about the challenge of safely scrapping
54 or more ships in the Suisun mothball fleet without
discharging toxic paint into the San Francisco
Bay system. The ships are continuing to drop
toxics into Suisun Bay, and the problem must
be resolved. Until now, the government's solution
has been to tow them to Texas for scrapping but
to try to clean the hulls before they leave,
a process that ended in a fiasco last year when
the hulls of two Victory Ships were "cleaned" while
berthed at point Potrero in Richmond.
Following this email are a series of articles
from the Contra Costa Times and other media that
describe the problem.
The Federal government
should find a few million dollars to rehabilitate
one or more of the dry docks at Richmond former
Shipyard #3. All that needs to be done is install
a pair of doors, some pumps and utilities. Use
the dry docks to safely scrap the mothball fleet
ships and properly dispose of toxics while training
and employing Richmond residents to do the work.
This would solve the hull cleaning problem, avoid
the cost of towing the ships to Texas, reduce
inner-city unemployment, reduce crime, rehabilitate
and preserve infrastructure at Rosie
the Riveter WW II Home Front National Historical
Park, and leave Richmond with a working
dry dock that could form the basis of a new
local industry. I'll bet that at the end of
the day, this would be cheaper than any other
solution.
This conundrum offers
a rare opportunity for a triple win for Richmond
that is the perfect convergence of history and
the future. Ever since Rosie the Riveter WW II
Home Front National Historical Park was created,
we have dreamed of restoring one of the original
dry docks (also known as graving docks) at former Shipyard
3 and using it for its original purpose
--- the ultimate hands-on interpretive exhibit.
But where would we get the money?
I think there is
enough money in the mothball fleet solution to
fund the dry dock restoration. How perfect could
that be? Taking ships apart in the same dry dock
where some of them were constructed and providing
jobs for people who are unemployed, partially
as a result of the events of 60 years ago that
brought thousands of African Americans to Richmond
from the South and then left many of them as
economically stranded victims of racism when
they were no longer needed for the war effort
(see “Lost
Conversations”?
Even the SS
Red Oak Victory is going to need hull
painting soon that will require a dry dock. It
could go back to where it was built for this
work.
The federal government is going to have to solve
this problem and pay for it. We could keep all
the money in Richmond. At this point, I think George
Miller and the California Congressional delegation
are the key. They can make it happen.
What can you do?
Click
HERE to send a message to Congressman
Miller, Senators Feinstein and Boxer and Maritime
Administration Director Sean Connaughton asking
them to make Richmond, California, the location
for safely scrapping the Suisun Mothball Fleet.
Also see Richmond
Mothball Fleet Scrapping Proposal Makes Daily
Kos
Below:
Historic Drawings of Shipyard #3 Dry Docks
(Dates of Drawings are in Parentheses)
Click images for larger versions
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