Price tag for barge removal comes in at $22 million
A 10-month effort to collect 38,397 gallons of oil products; 3.56 million pounds of cleaned and recycled steel; 4,850 pounds of asbestos; and 1.25 million pounds of debris, is what U.S. Coast Guard officials said it took to avert what could have been an "environmental disaster" in the Columbia River near Camas. The recent removal of the final sheet pile cofferdam from the barge SS Davy Crockett work site signals the true end of the multi-agency, $22 million endeavor that prevented the release of oil and other hazardous materials from the derelict Liberty ship. Constructed in April 2011, the 850-linear foot cofferdam and impermeable liner allowed crews to systematically dismantle the barge in the river and keep any pollution generated by the project to be contained and properly handled within, according to the Department of Ecology.