Tagged: tsunami debris

SALEM, Ore. – Oregon is putting out dumpsters at coastal parks for beachgoers to throw away tsunami debris. Governor John Kitzhaber announced Thursday he’s appointed an interagency team to coordinate efforts to dispose of materials washed up from last year’s Japanese tsunami.

A new hotline provides instruction and access to a quick response team for help with larger remains. National Guard General Mike Caldwell, heads the new taskforce.

LONG BEACH, Wash. — The Pacific County sheriff's office says a small dock that washed ashore on the Long Beach Peninsula appears to be more tsunami debris.

The days are numbered for the massive Japanese dock that washed up on an Oregon beach earlier this month. The Oregon State Parks Department announced Tuesday that it's accepted a bid from a Vancouver, Washington salvage company to break apart the dock and remove it.

David Solomon of the Parks Department says the $84,000 demolition was cheaper than towing the dock to a new location. And he says wildlife experts were concerned that re-using the dock would make coastal waters vulnerable to invasive species.

Kayakers surveying Washington state's most remote beaches for debris from last year's Japanese tsunami say they believe they have found part of a house.

OCEAN SHORES, Wash. — Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire says federal help is needed to help clean up tsunami debris that reaches the West Coast.

She told a news conference Monday morning at Ocean Shores, "We don't have the resources at the state level to do what we're going to have to do here."

People are flocking to an Oregon beach to see a Japanese dock that floated across the Pacific after last year's tsunami. But state officials aren't interested in turning it into a tourist spot.

OCEAN PARK, Wash. — It's not just fishing floats, derelict ships or docks that are washing ashore on Northwest beaches as debris from the March 2011 tsunami in Japan crosses the Pacific.

SALEM, Ore. – Oregon Parks officials are still weighing their options for the giant piece of tsunami debris that washed up on the Oregon coast this week. The Japanese dock continues to draw onlookers to the beach near Newport.

The state Parks and Recreation Department opened the removal project up for bid Friday. The agency’s Chris Havel says the proposals that come in will help determine whether the dock will be destroyed or reused.

NEWPORT, Ore. – Park rangers and volunteers worked quickly Thursday to defuse an invasive species time bomb that washed up near Newport, Oregon. They scraped off and sterilized a huge boat dock that was set adrift by last year’s devastating tsunami in Japan.

A bizarre event has drawn scientists to a beach in Oregon — a floating concrete dock from Japan has washed ashore. It had been ripped from its moorings by last year's tsunami and floated across the Pacific.

The dock is encrusted with mussels, barnacles and other marine life from Asia. Scientists are amazed these organisms survived the 14-month voyage, but they're also worried some of these organisms could become pests in U.S. waters.