On May 11, 6:29�am, Chuck Gould wrote:
If this runs anything like our own state's "derelict vessel" program,
it's not surprising that the taxpayers are on the hook for an average
of $50,000 for the removal of each of these boats. The costs of
breaking up a boat and then recycling everything in an approved
manner, (plus profit and the cost to hire a few inspectors to stand
around and watch each boat come apart), can add up quickly.

*****************

Work begins to raise, remove boats sunk by Hurricane Katrina at New
Orleans yacht harbor
AP
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A Florida contractor is fishing for boats that
Hurricane Katrina *deposited at the bottom of one of the city's
largest marinas.

As many as 200 boats are submerged at Municipal Yacht Harbor. By
Wednesday evening, a huge crane had pulled up a dozen in a project
that could cost up to $1 million (euro730,000).

"Sonar readings might show one boat, but it could be sitting atop
another one or even two," said Bruce Hammatt, a state Department of
Environmental Quality administrator overseeing the cleanup.

Resolve Marine Group of Port Everglades, Florida, is expected to
finish the job in about a month, Hammatt said. The Federal Emergency
Management Agency is paying for 90 percent of the work, with the state
picking up the rest.

Hammatt said he has supervised removal of 500 to 1,000 boats around
South Louisiana so far, including commercial shrimping and fishing
boats from the harbors at Empire and Venice in Plaquemines Parish.

The Coast Guard has taken hundreds of boats from navigable waterways
and coastal harbors, he said.

The city of New Orleans did not ask for help at the marina until last
summer, and it has taken until now to complete the environmental
assessments and get through the state bidding process, Hammatt said.

Before a vessel can be scrapped, all chemicals and electronic
equipment must be removed and separated for disposal.

The agreement also calls for Resolve to remove an estimated 300 tons
of debris - from wood pilings to refrigerators to splintered boat
parts - from the harbor bottom.

Oops. Blew a decimal point in the math.......