Cleaning of vessels causes pollution, prompts review

"The U.S. Maritime Administration announced late Friday that it will initiate "a complete and thorough review" of its ship-disposal program after California water regulators concluded that cleaning the hulls of obsolete vessels anchored in Suisun Bay causes pollution.

New tests on two World War II relics found that scrubbing aged hulls of marine growth such as seaweed and barnacles causes copper, zinc, lead and other toxic metals to come off with the organic materials...."