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Our Backyard Waterways:

The James River Ghost Fleet

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James River Ghost Fleet

©MathScience Innovation Center

James River Ghost Fleet

• Created in 1925 off Fort Eustis in Newport News

• Largest & oldest ship parking lot in the country

• 97 ships sit waiting to be used in a time of national crisis

• Problem? These ships are starting to deteriorate and will occasionally leak oil.– The whole fleet holds approximately 7.7

million gallons of oil.

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James River Ghost Fleet

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Ghost Fleet Oil Spill

• If two ships broke apart in a storm they could possible leak 282,000 gallons of oil into the James River!

• The spill could spread 50 miles in two days.

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The Clean-up Cost

• It costs $1 MILLION a year to maintain the fleet

• Disposing of its 71 obsolete ships would cost over $177 MILLION

• The ships are also contaminated with lead paint, asbestos, and toxic PCBs!

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What can be done?• Visit these sites to see what has

happened since the 2002 article. In your group develop a plan to clean up the Ghost Fleet.– CBC News: The Fifth Estate

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/bigbreak/fleet.html – Global Security

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/james-river.htm

– The Virginian-Pilot http://hamptonroads.com/pilotonline/

– Ships to Reef Program http://www.ships2reefs.com/