Mississippi Sound Cleanup Underway
The Mobile Register is carrying an update to the recent story about the cleanup of the Mississippi Sound. From initial accounts of the sheer volume of debris - pilings, parts of houses, cars, trucks... - this is a project that the $100,000 funding won't begin to cover.
Crews are trolling the shallows and hauling up whatever they snag within 200 yards of the north shore of Dauphin Island. In the process they're spotting plenty of storm debris in deeper water. Once the budget for the current cleanup project is exhausted the only way to clean up any more of this hazardous debris will be to go back to the well for more public funding.
Previous story: Mississippi Sound Cleanup to Begin
Work crews clean up island waters
Contractors removing hurricane debris from shallow waters north of Dauphin Island said they hope to finish their work this week but cautioned that much wreckage remains in the deeper waters beyond their project site.
By late Tuesday, crews using a tugboat, a barge and shrimp boats rigged with bottom-dragging hooks said they had hauled up about 150 square yards of junk from waters where Hurricane Katrina left cars, steel pipes, mangled air-conditioners and pieces of more than 100 shattered houses.
Federal funds are paying for the project to clear debris within up to 150 yards of the northern beach. The work focused on waters along about 5 miles of shoreline.
As the cleanup has progressed, contractors using depth finders and their own eyes have identified trucks, pilings and other debris in the deeper waters. Read more