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A Benicia Landmark Slated For The Scrap Heap
April 2nd, 2010 categories: Benicia, Local Stuff
One of Solano County’s most recognizable landmarks will be gone for good before the end of this decade.
I’m talking about the mothball fleet — a collection of old warships sitting in Suisun Bay just east of the Benicia Bridge. Put out to pasture decades ago, these once-proud military vessels, now deteriorated and decayed, are now about to head to their final resting place — a metal scrapyard.
That fate was sealed a number of years ago, but not much has happened up until now amid concerns that moving these massive vessels would allow contaminants to pollute the waters all along its journey. Or that marine organisms native to this area would tag along for the ride on a ship’s final journey and make their way to foreign waters, potentially damaging those faraway ecosystems, too.
So ever since the government decided to disband the mothball fleet, most of the ships have remained just where they’ve been anchored for the past four or five decades, while waiting for the government and environmentalists to come up with a plan that would allow the fleet to be permanently disbanded and dismantled.
On Wednesday, local Congressman George Miller held a news conference at the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet offices, in the marshlands just south of I-680 and the Lake Herman Rd. exit.
He announced that a 3-year-old lawsuit brought on by several environmental groups had finally been settled and that by the fall of 2012, the 20 most seriously decaying ships would be on their way out of Suisun Bay. And, by 2017, the entire 52-ship fleet would be no more.
The ships have definitely seen better days. Over the years, they’ve leached toxins and contaminants into our waters. Still, despite the obvious environmental gains, it will be kind of bittersweet to see these glorious old ships march out of our waters for the last time.
For they’re one of the last vivid reminders of a time in our country’s history that most of us only know about from watching war movies or reading history books.
The mothball fleet has been a Benicia and Solano County landmark for as long as I can remember. But one day in the not-too-distant future, you’ll drive across the bridge and that landmark will be no more.
More Reading
- Press Release From Rep. George Miller’s Office
- Suisun Bay’s ghost fleet may finally R.I.P. (SF Gate)
- No more fleet by 2017 (Benicia Herald)
