USS Oriskany Update

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This was in the Pensacola NewsJournal this morning.

Oriskany hearing date set
Meeting marks last phase for permitting

Brett Norman
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has scheduled a public hearing on the reefing of the Oriskany, in what supporters of the long-delayed project are calling a major step toward sinking the rusty flattop this spring.

The Jan. 10 hearing comes in the latter part of a 30-day public comment period ending Jan. 19 and marks the final phase of a permitting process that has taken 18 months longer than initially expected.

The plan is to turn the 888-foot flattop used in the Korean and Vietnam wars into an international fishing and diving destination, the pilot project for a new program to cheaply dispose of decommissioned vessels to the benefit of coastal communities throughout the nation.

"We're excited to finally have the public meeting on the horizon," said Pat Dolan, department director for the congressional and public affairs office of the Naval Sea Systems Command, which oversees the Inactive Fleet and the Oriskany project.

Barring an unanticipated outcry from the public, the EPA will issue the approval in February, and the ship would be returned to Pensacola from Beaumont, Texas, and sunk 22.5 miles south of Pensacola before hurricane season begins June 1, EPA and Navy officials said Tuesday.

"The time line has been established right now that we had hoped for," said retired Vice Adm. Jack Fetterman, who was instrumental in luring the project to the Pensacola area in 2004. "It's a very positive step for this community. I don't think a lot of people realize what the financial impact will be."

EPA approval is what has kept the Oriskany afloat as projected sink dates have slipped by, beginning in September 2004. The repeated delays have rankled project supporters, but news of the public hearing has begun to drum up enthusiasm again in the local diving and fishing industries.

"Everybody's been whining about how tough things have been, and now we have this golden egg dropped in our lap," said Jim Phillips, co-owner of MBT Divers shop on Navy Boulevard. "Once the word gets out on this, I'm confident (the excitement) will come back strong."

Laura Niles, spokeswoman for EPA Region 4, said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Escambia County Division of Marine Resources will be responsible for implementing a program to monitor the environmental impact of the ship no later than six months after its sinking.

The Navy has spent at least $12.7 million so far on the effort -- about 4½ times the $2.8 million budget that had been approved by Congress.


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My fingers have been crossed for along time now, hopefully, they'll be busy rigging up gear to drop down on the Big O's deck before long!
 
SuPrBuGmAn:
Nope, you're correct.

The Seawall isn't very high, the surge overtook it and the waves pounded the ship to a list. I guess the sands shifted underneath. The larger gangway ended up being destroyed, but the smaller one is still fine. The kinda funny thing is, the staff stayed throughout the hurricane on the ship and had all their vehicles parked on the deck of the boat. Once the gangway broke apart, the cars were stuck. I'm not sure how they got em off :D


I know this is a late reply to this... but they had vehicles parked on the deck? (of the ship?)

how'd they get them up there? is the gangway that wide/strong/straight to allow that or did they crane them up?


Edit: Nevermind... I see the answer to this..

These pics show the ship listing and also the walkway (er... driveway) up
to the ship... or what was left of it. (doesn't show cars though..)

http://www.ussalabama.com/html/photos/index.php
 
SuPrBuGmAn:
My fingers have been crossed for along time now, hopefully, they'll be busy rigging up gear to drop down on the Big O's deck before long!

You planning on doing that dive on air?
 
PerroneFord:
You planning on doing that dive on air?

I got the numbers from the permit and the Oriskany museum and came
up with the deck will be at about 130 feet deep, before any additional
settling of the ship into the sand, which will happen.

at 130', you won't really want to do more than 28% (nitrox)


Now if you plan on visiting the screws, you figure out what mixes
you'll need for 230 feet on your own :)
 
SuPrBuGmAn:
My fingers have been crossed for along time now, hopefully, they'll be busy rigging up gear to drop down on the Big O's deck before long!

That would be kinda cool - have a few airplanes/helicoptors on the deck, or in hanger bays.... beats the ubiquitous gnome or toilet....
 
mike_s:
I got the numbers from the permit and the Oriskany museum and came
up with the deck will be at about 130 feet deep, before any additional
settling of the ship into the sand, which will happen.

at 130', you won't really want to do more than 28% (nitrox)


Now if you plan on visiting the screws, you figure out what mixes
you'll need for 230 feet on your own :)

Oh, I know the mix for 230. And I'm about 2 years away from it! That's why I was asking him. It's a long path for both of us to get to technical trimix. Deep, Adv. Nitrox, Normoxic, Mix... With 50-75 dives between each.
 
PerroneFord:
Oh, I know the mix for 230. And I'm about 2 years away from it! That's why I was asking him. It's a long path for both of us to get to technical trimix. Deep, Adv. Nitrox, Normoxic, Mix... With 50-75 dives between each.


well right now, as deep as I'll be visiting that wreck would be to the flight deck (at approximately 130 feet). And to be honest, I'm not sure that I'm really read to
do that.... especially if the current is high, vis poor, etc...
If there was a trip tomorrow, I'd most likely pass at that depth, or just
hang out around the tower some. Plenty to see there.

While the tech-diver community might love this wreck being this deep, I still
don't think it's being sunk for the recreational divers, which are the mainstay
of the divers who vacation in areas to dive. In fact, I don't think it's being
sunk for divers at all. Charter fishing boats outnumber charter dive
boats in that area easily 100 to 1. They're not doing this sinking for
us boys...
 
Mike_S, I have to agree with you there. Dive boats along the gulf pale in comparison to the fishing boats. BUT, there are some tasty morsels out there for the divers. I am hoping to visit the Grey Ghost this summer, and once full mix certified (and a lot more experienced), I'd like to visit the USS Ozark off Destin. But that baby is DEEEEEP.
 
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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