OLYMPIA —Washington state is threatening to join a legal battle involving the U.S. Navy's pollution of Washington State's Puget Sound due to the scrapping of the hull on a decommissioned aircraft carrier, according to the state's attorney general.
Through a letter sent to the acting secretary of defense, the secretary of the Navy and to the Kitsap Naval Base Captain, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has warned the state will join in a lawsuit filed by the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, the Washington State Environmental Council and the Suquamish Tribe over the Navy's cleaning process of a 60,000 ton decommissioned aircraft carrier that has polluted Sinclair Inlet.
According to Ferguson's office, the Navy's scrapping of the hull of the former USS Independence has released metals such as copper, zinc and other materials into Puget Sound. The Navy's own study has shown pollutants go far beyond Washington state's allowable limits and the current lawsuit alleges the Navy has violated the federal Clean Water Act , the Attorney General's Office said.
“Keeping Puget Sound clean is vital to the health of Washingtonians and our struggling salmon and orcas,” Ferguson said in a statement. “The Navy must follow the same rules as everyone else to protect our waters.”
According to the Attorney General's Office, the Navy's work on the decommissioned ship and other work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard has caused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to list the area as a "Superfund Site" and the area does not meet "human recreation or fish consumption" standards.