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is essentially the wreck-free nature of actly the kind of environmental pro- Fund. We do not understand the in-

U.S. waterways – while not perfect, tection work where our ASA members action for the past three years. When it is a starkly positive contrast to the thrive. Further, the Coast Guard has a one of these aging wrecks inevitably ports and waters of many developing process and a ready source of funding spills a load of oil, the Coast Guard countries that can be found littered for handling such assessment and re- will have a lot of explaining to do to with wrecks, many of which can be moval operations within the Oil Spill the public.

witnessed to be actively polluting. In the ASA’s continued outreach efforts, including our expansion throughout the Americas, we highlight the ben- e? ts of an advanced response model and share lessons learned from the international experience of our mem- bers as well. Be assured that there are many developing countries struggling with the basics of such a system and without the proper laws and structure to enforce simple things such as pol- lution response, COFR’s or wreck re- moval orders. Business issues aside, we all have an obligation to preserve and protect the environment of our sensi- tive planet and the ASA is pleased to promote such efforts.

In 2013, NOAA submitted a report to the U.S. Coast Guard after com- pleting an assessment of known and potentially polluting sunken wrecks in U.S. waters, known as the Remediation of Underwater

Legacy Environmental Threats (RULET) project. This report identi- ? ed 17 high risk wrecks that were recommended for further assess- ment and potential oil removal.

Has any action been taken to ad- dress these high risk wrecks?

We have been waiting for action from the U.S. Coast Guard since the time this report was published. Quite frankly, the ASA is very disappointed that the Coast Guard has taken no action to address these wrecks which clearly represent a substantial threat of pollution. Further, we are aware of some of these wrecks that are actively leaking oil. While these submerged projects can be challenging, this is ex- www.marinelink.com MN 17

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