Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet

In January 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and MARAD have officially announced the Suisun site closure in February 2017, any remaining ships will be sold at auction or scrapped.

Potential concerns include heavy metals and anti-fouling agents in the paint that is peeling off of the vessels, as well as PCBs and other hazardous materials that may have been released.

Congress responded to these concerns by funding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to design and implement a study of contaminants in the vicinity of the fleet.

NOAA's Damage Assessment, Response, and Restoration Program (DARRP) began work on this project in January 2008.

Based on these findings, the United States Government has reached an agreement with Arc Ecology, San Francisco BayKeeper, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region (Regional Board) regarding the maintenance and disposal of obsolete ships owned by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) at the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet site, resolving a lawsuit in the Eastern District of California.

Ships of the reserve fleet, Suisun Bay, c. 2001 . Battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) is 2nd row from the bottom (moored at the Port of Los Angeles since 2012 as the USS Iowa Museum .)
SS Green Mountain State ( foreground )