CASE STUDY THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT AND THE DISPOSITION OF EX-ORISKANY
Abstract
A decommissioned former Navy aircraft carrier, ex-ORISKANY, was successfully scuttled
as an artificial reef in Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola, in Northwestern Florida, on
May 17, 2006. Extensive environmental planning and analysis was completed by the
Navy, State of Florida, and Escambia County, and other stakeholders in the years prior.
Key environmental planning and documentation included:
• Human Health Risk Assessment
• Ecological Assessment
• Scoping, Coordination, Consultation, and Public Participation
• Permitting
• Mitigation
• States Application for Navy Donation
• Environmental Assessment Document
• (Action) Decision and Donation to the State of Florida
• Modeling the Environmental Fate of Polychlorinated Biphenyls
• Review by an Environmental Protection Agency Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)
• Post Action Monitoring
The ex-Oriskany artificial reef has provided beneficial and thriving hard bottom habitat
populated by diverse populations of fish, encrusting organisms, and many other reef
species. The artificial reef has been used for recreational scuba diving and fishing,
and it provides a lucrative tourist attraction for beach resorts in proximity. However,
results of post action environmental monitoring at the reef site found varying and
elevated concentrations of PCBs in fish tissues, resulting in a continued monitoring
program. In this paper, I propose to review the environmental planning and monitoring
activities completed for this action, provide some overarching program observations,
and explore the potential for opportunities to enhance the Artificial Reef Program
as part of the Navy’s overall management programs for decommissioned ships, in alignment
with the National Environmental Policy Act.
Type
ReportPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5990Citation
Mitchell, Ted (2012). CASE STUDY THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT AND THE DISPOSITION OF EX-ORISKANY.
Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5990.Collections
More Info
Show full item record
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Rights for Collection: National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Education and Certificate Program Capstone Papers
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info