KB
02-18-2006, 07:37 PM
Carrier’s trash washes ashore, peeves Aussies
Plastics, sunken F/A-18 Hornet plague Reagan
By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer
SAN DIEGO — Plastics and other shipboard trash found near an Australian beach have landed the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan in a heap of trouble.
Navy officials are investigating how several bags of trash got off the ship and into the waters off Brisbane, eastern Australia. Their discovery Jan. 26 prompted apologies from U.S. and Navy officials and complaints from local environmentalists that the ship violated international maritime law by illegally dumping plastics at sea.
Local environmentalists also decried the Navy’s decision not to recover an F/A-18C Hornet jet that crashed Jan. 28 as it tried to land on Reagan’s flight deck. It fell off the deck and sank 120 miles southeast of Brisbane.
The ship’s skipper, Capt. Terry B. Kraft, issued an apology for the trash in the form of a letter sent to Australian newspapers.
“I would like to say that we have a very stringent policy in place that restricts the disposal of plastics at sea,” Kraft wrote. “All plastic waste is held aboard and disposed of ashore.”
“We sincerely regret this incident and are working to ensure that established procedures are followed. The U.S. Navy is committed to operating in a manner compatible with the environment,” he wrote.
The Navy’s shipboard trash and recycling procedures ban the disposal of plastic items. All plastic trash collected aboard is sorted and separated from other trash and then melted and compacted into disks, which are “easily stored until we can dispose of them properly,” Lt. Cmdr. Gary Ross, a Reagan spokesman, said by telephone from the ship Feb. 1.
The carrier, which deployed from San Diego on its maiden operational deployment Jan. 4, left Brisbane on Jan. 27 after a five-day port visit.
“Our indication ... [is the trash dumping] occurred prior to us pulling into port,” Ross said. He declined to provide more specifics, saying an investigation was still underway.
The Nimitz-class carrier was in port when a local fisherman found six bags of trash in the waters near Moreton Island, about 20 miles east of Brisbane.
“We pulled it up onboard and opened it up, and there were all these plastics inside,” the fisherman, Aaron Pringle, told the Sunshine Coast Daily newspaper in Maroochydore. “There’s drink bottles, knives, forks, plastic wrappers and coffee cups, as well as some papers.”
On Jan. 30, a local Australian found another bag of trash, including a Navy shirt and overalls, on a Mudjimba beach, the newspaper reported.
In addition to the trash, environmentalists have made noise about the Navy’s decision not to recover the sunken Hornet.
It’s unclear how deep the jet is. The waters off Australia’s southeast coast drop to more than 12,000 feet beyond the continental shelf.
The aircraft’s pilot, whose name was not released, ejected and was pulled from the water by a Navy helicopter crew. “He didn’t have any injuries,” Ross said, noting a mishap investigation also is underway.
No one on the flight deck was injured, and the jet carried no weapons, he said.
The pilot is from Strike Fighter Squadron 125, based at Lemoore Naval Air Station, Calif.
Plastics, sunken F/A-18 Hornet plague Reagan
By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer
SAN DIEGO — Plastics and other shipboard trash found near an Australian beach have landed the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan in a heap of trouble.
Navy officials are investigating how several bags of trash got off the ship and into the waters off Brisbane, eastern Australia. Their discovery Jan. 26 prompted apologies from U.S. and Navy officials and complaints from local environmentalists that the ship violated international maritime law by illegally dumping plastics at sea.
Local environmentalists also decried the Navy’s decision not to recover an F/A-18C Hornet jet that crashed Jan. 28 as it tried to land on Reagan’s flight deck. It fell off the deck and sank 120 miles southeast of Brisbane.
The ship’s skipper, Capt. Terry B. Kraft, issued an apology for the trash in the form of a letter sent to Australian newspapers.
“I would like to say that we have a very stringent policy in place that restricts the disposal of plastics at sea,” Kraft wrote. “All plastic waste is held aboard and disposed of ashore.”
“We sincerely regret this incident and are working to ensure that established procedures are followed. The U.S. Navy is committed to operating in a manner compatible with the environment,” he wrote.
The Navy’s shipboard trash and recycling procedures ban the disposal of plastic items. All plastic trash collected aboard is sorted and separated from other trash and then melted and compacted into disks, which are “easily stored until we can dispose of them properly,” Lt. Cmdr. Gary Ross, a Reagan spokesman, said by telephone from the ship Feb. 1.
The carrier, which deployed from San Diego on its maiden operational deployment Jan. 4, left Brisbane on Jan. 27 after a five-day port visit.
“Our indication ... [is the trash dumping] occurred prior to us pulling into port,” Ross said. He declined to provide more specifics, saying an investigation was still underway.
The Nimitz-class carrier was in port when a local fisherman found six bags of trash in the waters near Moreton Island, about 20 miles east of Brisbane.
“We pulled it up onboard and opened it up, and there were all these plastics inside,” the fisherman, Aaron Pringle, told the Sunshine Coast Daily newspaper in Maroochydore. “There’s drink bottles, knives, forks, plastic wrappers and coffee cups, as well as some papers.”
On Jan. 30, a local Australian found another bag of trash, including a Navy shirt and overalls, on a Mudjimba beach, the newspaper reported.
In addition to the trash, environmentalists have made noise about the Navy’s decision not to recover the sunken Hornet.
It’s unclear how deep the jet is. The waters off Australia’s southeast coast drop to more than 12,000 feet beyond the continental shelf.
The aircraft’s pilot, whose name was not released, ejected and was pulled from the water by a Navy helicopter crew. “He didn’t have any injuries,” Ross said, noting a mishap investigation also is underway.
No one on the flight deck was injured, and the jet carried no weapons, he said.
The pilot is from Strike Fighter Squadron 125, based at Lemoore Naval Air Station, Calif.