The History of STORIS -- More deficient paperwork -- Part 6

This is the deficient PCB report that was used by the United States government to decommission and excess the ship. The report was also used by the government to allow the export of the ship to Ensenada. This is Appendix E from the Environmental Assessment listed above, with the addition of a simple and sparsely worded cover sheet declaring the ship free of regulated PCBs but without supporting documentation that refers to encapsulated PCBs.

Again, you will note that under the section related to PCBs in the report, that of the 39 samples, none are from any site related to electrical wiring or components, sites that would have the highest likelihood of containing PCBs. The sites that tested positive for PCBs above regulated levels were pipes that had a black foam insulation. Twenty linear feet of that insulation material was removed on January 17, 2007, in four and a half hours. The U.S. Coast Guard then declared the ship free of regulated PCBs. This removal was documented in this Power Point Presentation by the Coast Guard -- http://goo.gl/2vFjlm

This doesn't seem to be a proper conclusion considering what we know about the ship. There were a lot of wires and cables on board that would be likely to test positive for unacceptable levels of PCBs as well as PCB-containing paint that was likely to be contained throughout the interior of the ship and encapsulated under decades of subsequent layers of paint, behind insulation and under ventilation ductwork. However, these wires, cables and interior paint surfaces were not tested. Paint samples were taken for lead content, but not PCBs. Cutting and torching these materials in the scrapyard will release the encapsulated PCBs.

This file is over 2 MB in size and again, requires Acrobat Reader. http://goo.gl/1IfEOr

The Vallejo Times Herald ran a story about the situation with STORIS outlining the concerns related to the PCBs believed to be on board the ship. http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_24432274/will-historic-coast-guard-ship-escape-scrap-heap?