STORIS photo...Just because. Stay tuned for important updates

STORIS in the ice ca 1980s, a D17 photo. Sharing just because.

I have heard that there may be some major news coming shortly, an opportunity to speak up and be heard. At this point, the best I can say is stand by to stand by. I will let everyone know as it plays out.

Fourth rolling release issued by GSA

I received the fourth rolling release from GSA today. There are a few hundred pages of information, much of which is repetitive. The Environmental Assessment for STORIS and ACUSHNET was also included and some dumb government bureaucrat sat and redacted the whole thing, wasting time and effort on a document that is already available online and redaction free. Government waste at its finest. From a quick read-through, there is more proof of the ignorance, arrogance, and incompetence at GSA. Yes, that means you Heather Bischoff, Tonya Dillard and all your cronies, since we know definitely that GSA is reading our Facebook and Web site posts. GSA refers to me in a couple of posts as "pestering them." They have a lot of nerve, but they do what they want because they're the government.

Once I wade through this mess I'll post it. I have to redact some of my own personal information that they left in the files.

It's only been some eighteen months since the original FOIA request. Your government at work...

ACUSHNET buyer arrested, charged for stealing widow's life savings

Big news as the buyer of the retired USCGC ACUSHNET has been arrested and now faces fraud charges for stealing the life savings of an elderly woman in order to purchase the ship.

Story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Charge-Conman-duped-doctor-s-widow-to-6197843.php

A second story in the Bismarck (ND) Tribune: http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-charged-with-defrauding-elderly-woman-to-buy-ship/article_f486e9a5-1dc1-5618-acb0-6932b4ddb588.html

ACUSHNET has been discussed in previous blog posts. For convenience, they are located at the following links:

STORIS not the first Queen to be dishonored: CGC ACUSHNET

Post 1

Post 2
 

Third GSA FOIA information from March 19

Here is the GSA FOIA release, the third, from March 19. GSA is proving to be an utter joke as far as their handling of the FOIA response, but in a larger sense, a totally incompetent, arrogant bureaucracy. This package is more of the same repetitive message stream from the last release. Again, it is cause for bitter resentment how GSA officials treated STORIS as nothing more than an old file cabinet, especially considering that she was listed as nationally significant on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s also disgraceful the way the ignorant bureaucrats refer to Jim Loback of STORIS Museum as “the guy” in much of the correspondence. Jim served his country more faithfully than these worthless GSA prats working for themselves, I mean, the federal government.

This is the FOIA that GSA wanted to charge me $10,266 for fulfillment. Since Danielle Ivory of the NY Times submitted an identical FOIA, the request was transferred to her control and I am being copied with the materials. We are keeping Ms. Ivory in the loop with developments as she collects information.

The cover letter: http://goo.gl/o8exvb

The FOIA release: http://goo.gl/yUlUbQ

A summary:

Pg 6 points out that buyer intends to use the ship for scrap, responsibility for preserving vessel's history is on Coast Guard, no covenants on ship herself. Since the auction closed on June 27 and they awarded the ship June 28, GSA is already announcing at this point that STORIS is to be scrapped. How did they know so quickly? Also, this is very problematic because of the federal laws that should have prevented her sale by GSA and her ultimate scrapping in Mexico.
 

Pg 16- IM conversation where it is stated that conversation is off the record, again discussing ship is to become scrap, and discussion about reserve price determination and acceptance. NOT ONE WORD ABOUT MANDATORY DOMESTIC SCRAPPING.
 

Pg 62, acknowledgement of discussion with Bob King of Begich's office, where he is reported to have expressed disappointment in course of events.
 

Pg 155 - media statement regarding excessing and disposal of ship, referral to CG for disposal, as well
 

Pg 166- questions from reporter Kristin Agostoni regarding specifics of sale (This was the reefing story for CA Ships to Reefs that also discussed IRIS and PLANETREE). Her inquiry referred to in previous pages on several occasions. Answers are on pg 172. Remember, IRIS and PLANETREE are still in the custody of MARAD at Suisun Bay, classed as “too dirty” with asbestos and PCBs to sell. They are of similar construction and age as STORIS, which was claimed to be miraculously clean of hazardous materials, despite documentation we have and common sense that says otherwise. There is an MOA between the CG and MARAD to dispose of the two 180s.
 

Pg 235 - statement that an inquiry has been received from an OH representative's office, so time to circle the wagons and get the story straight. Then the story from KMXT where I was quoted (pg 237) regarding the undocumented PCBs, the listing as a repairable ship by GSA and no notification of domestic scrapping requirements
 

Pg 243 - inquiry as to whether GSA has info so can respond to my claims
 

Pg 252 - discussion among GSA that ship is now in Mexico (Tuesday Oct 29) and received required clearances from the EPA for export
 

Pg 269 - Inquiry from Diane Feinstein's office, refer back to response given to earlier Congressional inquiries.
 

Pg 287 - Ship in Mexico, Chris Rollins of EPA gave authorization for export, related back to KMXT story with my quotes. The question is, within the 10/29/13 GSA email, it states that all required clearances were granted before the vessel went to Mexico.  Again, who stated it could go to Mexico in violation of the law?

Pg 299 - More re Feinstein inquiry
 

Pg 302 - Letter from Feinstein representative asking for clarification on sale, related to inquiry letter from Jim Loback, especially since reserve price was not met. Points out STORIS Museum didn't meet GSA criteria, which is true but also stupid, because it would be impossible for the Museum to be up and running with a full-time employee without actual possession of the ship as its "building"
 

Pg 321- Acknowledgement again ship was removed "last week"
 

Pg 359- Media briefing list with several STORIS stories

And that's it. Not a peep about Section 3502 of the 2009 NDAA. It's again, a matter of getting rid of the ship ASAP with no consideration for her history because of the pre-existing MOA with AK SHPO and USCG from 2006.

The amount of wasted white space is appalling. No wonder it would have cost so much for copies.

STORIS featured as a Monday Memory in Toledo Blade

STORIS was featured in a retrospective brief in the Monday, March 23 edition of the Toledo Blade. "Splashy debut for 'Queen of the Fleet'."









Readers and supporters of the ship had the opportunity to post comments on the feature page.

My responses, first as myself:
It’s worth noting the STORIS, likely the most famous and accomplished ship to have ever been built in Toledo, was placed on museum hold following her decommissioning Feb 8, 2007. In excellent physical operating condition, she was mothballed in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet near San Francisco as efforts to secure her for use as a museum ship continued. After attempts at Congressional donation failed as late as 2012, the STORIS Museum of Juneau and The Last Patrol Museum of Toledo tried to negotiate with the U.S. General Services Administration to obtain the ship for use in Toledo as an active museum ship and training vessel for U.S. Navy Sea Cadets. Rather than follow the spirit and intent of federal preservation law that encouraged preservation of STORIS as a nationally significant historic treasure, GSA bureaucrats opted to sell the ship at auction for a paltry $70K in June 2013 to a shady scrapper, a so-called “used-car dealer” from San Diego. This scrapper spent the remainder of the summer trying to extort from the nonprofits five times what he paid for the ship. The Blade ran a story by intern Sam Gans on 7/15/13. When the extortion proved unsuccessful, the GSA, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Maritime Administration and Environmental Protection Agency allowed the buyer to illegally export STORIS in late Oct 2013 to Ensenada, Mexico, for foreign dismantling. After faithfully serving the U.S. for over 64 years of decorated service with Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty, STORIS and all her crews were betrayed by the very government they served. The Mighty STORIS, Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast and Queen of the Fleet, died on a beach in Mexico, picked apart between November 2013 and summer 2014 by the yardbirds of a substandard foreign scrapyard. Rather than being an active, thriving part of the Toledo waterfront, STORIS today is relegated to being nothing more than a Monday Memory in the paper. That’s the rest of the story.


As USCGC STORIS: Life and Death of a CG Queen
The scrapping of STORIS in a substandard foreign scrapyard in Mexico undoubtedly released undocumented encapsulated hazardous materials still aboard the ship that would have otherwise been safe with museum use. After her illegal export in late Oct 2013, members from STORIS’ last crew provided statements that confirmed the presence of large quantities of old wiring, cables and other materials that would likely have contained regulated levels of PCBs exceeding the export limits set by the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. The Coast Guard decommissioning reports, already deficient and sparse in content, did not list the presence of these materials and also seemed to show that conscious efforts were made to avoid testing any location on the ship that might have tested positive for PCBs. The sale of the ship by GSA violated federal law 40 USC 548, which requires that ships displacing more than 1,500 tons are to be disposed of by the Maritime Administration. STORIS displaced 1,710 tons. The export to Mexico violated federal law Section 3502 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act of 2009, which mandates that retired U.S. government vessels are to be recycled domestically. Scrapping should never have even been up for consideration by the government. This illegal activity by the U.S. Federal Government all took place in spite of the ship’s excellent condition that made her a perfect candidate for museum use and preservation. As noted, STORIS was listed as nationally significant on the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 31, 2012 and yet her destruction was sanctioned by government bureaucrats just a few months later. Efforts are still underway almost 17 months after STORIS’ export to secure documentation from the Federal Government through the Freedom of Information Act to determine how this crime against history was allowed to happen. The government agencies complicit in this disaster are not cooperating. They are ignoring requests, subjectively redacting large quantities of information or attempting to charge exorbitant fees; all classic government efforts to hide the truth.

GSA releases third FOIA: More baloney than a sandwich

Received the third rolling FOIA release from GSA today. Have to take time to go through it. Looks like a lot of repetitive documents from what they've released already. I'll try to get through it and post it in the next few days. The GSA is running its FOIA appeal process differently than MARAD. The Maritime Administration wanted me to wait until they sent everything before sending my final appeal. GSA has it set up to appeal after every release. Two problems: The first is that the person who now controls the FOIA is Danielle Ivory of the NY Times and second, the deadlines have been set at 120 days, so the appeals for the first two releases have already lapsed. No small wonder that the government is so corrupted, literally and figuratively.

From what I've seen, GSA was still pushing to get rid of the ship ASAP with no consideration for her history because of that pre-existing Memorandum of Agreement between the Alaska State Historic Preservation Office and the USCG.

AP: Obama Administration most secretive in U.S. History

It's the Daily Mail, but an AP story. It's no big shock to those of us waiting for STORIS records. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3000203/US-sets-new-record-denying-censoring-government-files.html