Attorney general threatens to join suit against Navy over hull-scraping
Washington state says it intends to join a lawsuit filed against the Navy by the Suquamish Tribe and environmental groups over hull-scraping practices they believe are harming Sinclair Inlet, Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Thursday.
The Attorney General's Office sent a letter to the Navy on Thursday asking that it remedy Clean Water Act violations related to the process it uses to scrape the hulls of decommissioned vessels in the next 60 days. Ferguson said the process resulted in "truck loads of solid materials, including copper and zinc" being released into Puget Sound.
The lawsuit was filed in June 2017 by the tribe, Washington Environmental Council and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance. The groups alleged Clean Water Act violations as the hull of the decommissioned USS Independence was scraped in preparation for it to be towed to Texas to be dismantled. The scraping took place outside of a dry dock without any containment.
The Navy is aware of the attorney general's notice of intent to sue, said Rory O'Connor, a spokesman for Naval Sea Systems Command. As it is ongoing litigation, O'Connor referred further questions to the federal Department of Justice.
Read more: https://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/local/2019/01/18/puget-sound-navy-hull-scraping-lawsuit-attorney-general/2616365002/