But making reefs of Navy ships comes with serious environmental challenges. The Navy spent $20 million to clean the Oriskany, but left an estimated 700 pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, on the ship, mainly in wiring and bulkhead insulation. Some ecologists warned that the sinking of the Oriskany would unnecessarily risk introducing PCBs into the food chain. The Navy worked with the Environmental Protection Agency to create special guidelines allowing the PCBs to stay, and a State of Florida study is underway to determine whether the chemicals are entering the environment. The Oriskany’s navigation tower is teeming with prickly sea urchins and crusty barnacles. Giant barracuda prowl the tower’s empty windows. Thirty-eight species of fish have been seen at the wreck.
When the ship was sunk, state safety officials worried about inexperienced divers inadvertently going too deep and suffering decompression sickness, or “the bends”. The top of the control tower is at 70 feet, but the flight deck sits at 137 feet and the hull at 212 feet. The recommended recreational diving limit is 135 feet. A 39-year-old man died while diving the Oriskany last August of what the Escandia medical examiner says was “the bends”. Another man died of an apparent heart attack on a boat after diving the Oriskany in 2006, but the local police say his death was not related to depth.
The “great carrier reef” has been featured in magazines and on websites as one of the nation’s best places to dive. “It put Pensacola on the map as a diving spot,” said Jim Phillips, co-owner of MBT Divers in Pensacola. All three of Pensacola’s dive shops are reporting brisk business related to the Oriskany, with 4,200 dive trips to the wreck reported in 2007. The ship has become a big lure for military buffs, as well, including veterans who once served on the ship. “We’ve invited Senator McCain here to visit,” Phillips said, “and he’s welcome to dive with us any time.”
_erik olsen, NYT
