When excess water was found on USS The Sullivans, and a small fracture in the USS Croaker was found to be leaking petroleum into the Buffalo River last month, Buffalo Erie Naval and Military Park officials had a couple of immediate responsibilities – to prevent further environmental issues and to stabilize the vessels to be dry docked out of state for long-term repairs.
“I'm happy to say today that both of those objectives have been complete without incident, on time and within budget," said Brian Luallen, president and CEO of the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park.
City officials, along with members of the Coast Guard and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, announced that phase one of the environmental remediation and vessel stabilization project was successful and under budget.
"The City of Buffalo had a proposal of close to a million dollars. Right now, we are under that budget. As of last Friday, I believe the estimate was close to between $550,000 spent so far during this operation," said interim parks commissioner Stephen Buccilli. The remaining money will go towards moving a third ship — the USS Little Rock — so that the Croaker and the Sullivans can be transported to Erie, Pennsylvania later this year for permanent repairs.
Dredging — the removal of built-up sediment from water surrounding the ships — is the next step, but that can’t take place until fish spawning season ends, which should be June 30. Then the ships can be transported for repairs. In the meantime, visitors will still be able to enjoy the Naval Park and see the ships before they depart in the fall.
“We will be resuming regular seven day a week operations, and we welcome the public to come out and see these," Luallen said.
The Naval Park will resume normal operations starting April 29.
