Barge with unusual cargo that’ll pass West Seattle on Friday: Tsunami debris

(Photos courtesy Waste Management NW)
From the “what you’ll see at sea” file: Waste Management Northwest says the 300-foot barge you see above is on its way to its South Park dock after a trip to Alaska…

… where helicopters were used to pick up more than 3,000 super sacks filled with hundreds of tons of marine debris, each weighing approximately 400 pounds.

A significant amount of the collected debris was generated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and was subsequently deposited by winds and currents along the remote coastlines of Alaska and Canada. … The barge will arrive and unload the super sacks of marine debris on Waste Management’s Seattle dock. In a few weeks, local environmental volunteer groups will sort the material for recycling at an event coordinated by Parley for the Oceans, a national non-profit focused on addressing threats to the world’s oceans. Material Innovation company Bionic Yarn will then transform the sorted marine debris plastic into high-performance textiles and polymers. All remaining debris will travel via train to the Columbia Ridge landfill.

WM isn’t sure yet exactly when the barge will enter the Duwamish River; it’s hosting a media briefing at 11 am this Friday (August 7th) and the barge is expected to be docked by then.

11 Replies to "Barge with unusual cargo that'll pass West Seattle <strike>on Friday</strike>: Tsunami debris"

  • Matt S. August 5, 2015 (7:02 pm)

    Bionic Yarn?! Awesome.

  • Beth August 5, 2015 (7:36 pm)

    Any info on how to get aligned with the volunteer groups? Sounds like a fun and UNIQUE opportunity!

  • bolo August 5, 2015 (9:32 pm)

    Wondering if they are going to check it for radioactivity first. Reminds me of when Bed Bath & Beyond had to recall all those radioactive metal tissue boxes a few years back. Evidently they were made from re-smelted radioactive scrap metal.

  • cjboffoli August 5, 2015 (9:51 pm)

    If there even was any radioactive contamination on this debris it most certainly was washed off (cesium), decayed (iodine radionuclides) or was otherwise diluted by thousands of miles of oceans. You’re more likely to see a greater reaction by running a geiger counter over a bunch of bananas at a local supermarket (potassium is a radioactive isotope) versus any of this stuff. There’s a much better chance that the debris contains fuel tanks or sealed bottles of other toxic chemicals that will need to be dealt with.

  • Jim August 6, 2015 (8:11 am)

    Would be interesting to see a follow-up report to learn how much is actually recycled vs. dumped in the landfill.

  • John August 6, 2015 (9:29 am)

    What’s nice about this is they probably picked up tons of beach waste not even related to the tsunami.

    • WSB August 6, 2015 (9:37 am)

      Update – Just received photos suggesting the barge just went through the bridge a little while ago. Publishing separately. (Added – https://westseattleblog.com/?p=319093 )

  • janna August 6, 2015 (9:45 am)

    radioactivity not an issue – debris washed out well before the nuclear leaks occurred. testing has been done periodically. no problems with tadioactive materials.

  • janna August 6, 2015 (9:46 am)

    all hazmat was left on the beaches – none was transported on the barge

  • thisisagooddeal August 6, 2015 (10:49 am)

    Not that I’m complaining, but does anyone know why it was sent here instead of processed in Alaska?

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