Environmental Remediation of the Texas Clipper ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION OF THE USTS TEXAS CLIPPER FOR USE AS AN ARTIFICIAL REEF IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 7 September 2007 Submitted by: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Artificial Reef Program 4200 Smith School Rd. Austin, TX 78744-3291 (512) 389-4686 Environmental Remediation of the Texas Clipper TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ..............................................................................................................I LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... III LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... III ACRONYMS............................................................................................................................... IV EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ VI PART 1.0 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview of the Texas Artificial Reef Program....................................................................... 1 1.2 Use and Acquisition of the Texas Clipper Ship as an Artificial Reef ...................................... 1 1.3 Goal of Texas Clipper Ship Artificial Reef Project.................................................................. 5 1.3.1 Conservation Goals................................................................................................................ 5 1.3.2 Social Benefits ....................................................................................................................... 6 1.3.3 Biological Benefits ............................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Participants............................................................................................................................... 8 1.4.1 Primary Contact .................................................................................................................... 8 1.4.2 Consultants............................................................................................................................ 8 1.4.3 Other Agencies ..................................................................................................................... 9 1.4.4 Contractors Performing Remediation, Hull Modifications and Sinking ............................ 10 PART 2.0 DESCRIPTIONS AND HISTORY OF SHIP........................................................ 11 2.1 The Three Lives of the Texas Clipper ................................................................................. 11 2.1.1 USS Queens Era (1944-1946)............................................................................................ 11 2.1.2 SS Excambion (1948-1959) ................................................................................................ 13 2.1.3 USTS Texas Clipper (1965-1996) ...................................................................................... 14 2.2 Historical Research and Maritime Heritage Promotion.......................................................... 15 PART 3.0 ACQUISITION OF ARTIFICIAL REEF SITE OCS BLOCK SOUTH PADRE ISLAND 1122 .............................................................................................................................. 16 3.1 Geographical location of Texas Clipper Reef Site ................................................................. 16 3.2 Gulf of Mexico Environment and Conditions ........................................................................ 19 3.2.1 Physical Environment .......................................................................................................... 20 3.2.2 Biological Resources ........................................................................................................... 24 3.2.3 Socioeconomic Environment............................................................................................... 25 3.2.4 Cultural Resources............................................................................................................... 26 3.3 Hazard Study of Reef Site....................................................................................................... 27 3.3.1 Petroleum Lease Blocks....................................................................................................... 28 3.3.2 Oil and Gas Platforms.......................................................................................................... 28 3.3.3 Communications Cables ...................................................................................................... 28 3.3.4 Safety Fairways (Shipping Channels).................................................................................. 28 3.3.5 Submerged Pipelines and Other Structures ......................................................................... 28 3.4 Method of Marking Location.................................................................................................. 28 PART 4.0 REMEDIATION OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS............................................ 29 4.1. Hazardous Materials Baseline Study ..................................................................................... 29 i Environmental Remediation of the Texas Clipper 4.2. Remediation and Modification Overview.............................................................................. 30 4.2.1 Contractor Performing Remediation.................................................................................... 30 4.2.2 Scope of Work ..................................................................................................................... 31 4.3 Location and Description of Where Work was Performed..................................................... 33 4.3.1 Brownsville Facility Preparation for Ship Arrival............................................................... 33 4.3.2 Mooring, Security, and Worker Safety during Remediation and Modification .................. 34 4.4 Inspection of Preparation Process........................................................................................... 34 4.5 Materials of Concern .............................................................................................................. 34 4.5.1 Oil and Fuel ......................................................................................................................... 34 4.5.2. Asbestos .............................................................................................................................. 37 4.5.3 PCB Containing Materials................................................................................................... 40 4.5.4 Paint ..................................................................................................................................... 52 4.5.5 Solids, Debris and Floatables............................................................................................... 53 4.5.6 Other Materials of Environmental Concern......................................................................... 55 4.5.7 Precautionary Procedures and Disposal............................................................................... 58 4.6 Remediation Summary............................................................................................................ 59 PART 5.0 HULL MODIFICATIONS AND PREPARATION OF SHIP FOR SINKING . 60 5.1 Hull and Structural Modifications .......................................................................................... 60 5.1.1 Production Methods for each Phase of Superstructure and Hull Dismantlement / Modification.................................................................................................................................. 61 5.1.2 Methods and Procedures to Identify and Segregate all Material......................................... 62 5.1.3 Deck-by-Deck Modifications .............................................................................................. 62 5.2 Procedures for Vessel Sinking................................................................................................ 74 5.2.1 Computer Modeling of Vessel ............................................................................................ 74 5.2.2 Towing Preparation.............................................................................................................. 75 5.2.3 Towing Evolution to Reefing Site ....................................................................................... 77 PART 6.0 PERMITS, APPROVALS, AND SECURITY....................................................... 78 PART 7.0 REFERENCES......................................................................................................... 78 PART 8.0 LIST OF ATTACHMENTS (LONG TITLE) ....................................................... 81 PART 9.0 SUB-CONTRACTORS USED BY SEPARATIONS SYSTEMS CONSULTING, INC., RESOLVE MARINE GROUP, INC. AND ESCO MARINE, INC. TO SAMPLE OR DISPOSE OF HAZARDOUS AND NON-HAZARDOUS WASTES .................................... 83 ii Environmental Remediation of the Texas Clipper LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Artificial reef locations along the Texas coast in the Gulf of Mexico. ......................... 2 Figure 2. USS Queens during the war years,