Navy Ditched '50 Dump Truck Loads' Of Toxins In Puget Sound: AG

BREMERTON, WA - Attorney General Bob Ferguson says he will join a lawsuit against the Navy over toxins dumped into Puget Sound during the cleaning of decommissioned aircraft carrier. About "50 dump truck loads" of toxins were released during the cleaning process, Ferguson says.

Zinc and copper were released into the Sinclair Inlet near Bremerton in 2016 when the Navy was cleaning the USS Independence at Naval Base Kitsap. Those substances are harmful to marine life - copper, in particular, can interfere with salmon's ability to navigate, Ferguson said.

Ferguson wants the Navy to stop using the harmful cleaning process. The Navy has plans to clean the decommissioned USS Kittyhawk, docked at Naval Base Kitsap, in the same manner. The Navy cleans decommissioned ships to remove potentially invasive marine life.

In 2017, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, the Washington Environmental Council, and the Suquamish Tribe sued the Navy under the Clean Water Act for releasing the toxins into Puget Sound. Ferguson would join that suit.

"Keeping Puget Sound clean is vital to the health of Washingtonians and our struggling salmon and orcas. The Navy must follow the same rules as everyone else to protect our waters," Ferguson said in a press release.

Ferguson is raising the issue at a critical time for endangered southern resident orcas. Orcas mainly feed on salmon, but the fish are becoming scarcer in Puget Sound for a variety of reasons, including pollutants that weaken the fish, making them more susceptible to predation.

Caption: The USS Independence steams into Sydney Harbour, Australia, March 26, 1997. The Navy cleaned the ship near Bremerton when it was decommissioned in 2016.

AP Photo/Australian Navy