Exfoliated Paint News

With the departure of the Sperry, the 26th obsolete vessel removed from Suisun Bay, the U.S. Maritime Administration has surpassed by six ships the number of obsolete vessels it agreed in 2009 to remove, Maritime Administrator David Matsuda announced today. The disposal schedule called for 20 ships to be permanently removed from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet and a total of 25 ships to be cleaned in dry dock by September 30, 2011. “Two years ago we promised to get rid of the obsolete ships that posed a threat to the surrounding environment,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California ruled that the non-retention vessels in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, operated by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), are point sources subject to the permitting requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) [also referred to as the Clean Water Act (CWA)]. Exfoliated paint and other materials discharged into water are pollutants under the FWPCA and permits under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) should be obtained. The court also ruled that the exfoliated paint constitutes a hazardous waste under California law. This results in MARAD being both a generator of hazardous waste and the operator of a hazardous waste storage facility.