Department of Defense Ship Disposal Project
National Environmental Educations & Training Center, Inc. 1176 Grant Street Indiana, PA

The US Navy has more than 200 mothballed ships in various locations around the country.  For many years, the Government has avoided the disposal of obsolete Navy vessels because of environmental, health and safety, and economic concerns. Although a number of commercial ships have been scrapped in Third World locations such as India, these operations have been plagued by serious environmental, safety and health problems.Since the decaying Navy fleet presents a greater hazard with the further passage of time, the Government must meet the challenge and develop a safe and economical process for the disposal of its obsolete fleet.  Since the residual value from recyclable material on a dismantled ship does not begin to cover the cost of decontamination and deconstruction: without efficient means, methods and systems, the cost of this work will be enormous.  To assist with the development of advanced systems for the disposal of ships and to determine the potential for an economically viable ship scrapping industry in the United States, the Department of Defense has engaged the National Environmental Educations & Training Center, Inc (NEETC) to undertake a benchmark study of the ship scrapping process.  Alta Management as a prime consultant to NEETC, is coordinating with the Navy's contractor, the observation of means and methods of ship dismantling, and the gathering of statistical data from which baseline data can be derived.  After the data-gathering phase is complete, Alta will work with NEETC on the compilation of the baseline analysis report and then proceed with the evaluation of opportunities for re-engineering the process to gain further efficiencies by combining proven technologies and systems with emerging technologies.  Majid Alsayegh, Joe Resta