EPA Issues Report on Effectiveness of Marine Trash Skimmers

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 2) has issued its latest update of the "Floatables Action Plan" for the NY/NJ Harbor area. This Plan details methods employed by the relevant authorities to minimize floating debris including street litter and even medical debris which, prior to the Plan's implementation, led to numerous beach closures in NJ & Long Island, NY, and multi-$ billion revenue losses by the affected beach communities.

The use of self-propelled marine trash skimmers, including 6 TrashCatsT from United Marine International, has been an integral part of the Plan's success. The 2 TrashCatsT operated by NJ have removed, on average, one ton per day of floating debris over the last 2 years.

The full 57 page report can be found at http://www.epa.gov/region02/water/action_plan/assess2003.pdf  

An 18 page excerpt of the latest EPA Assessment Report can be found at http://www.trashskimmer.com/nyc-exec-sumry.htm.

In other U.S. EPA news, the Agency recently awarded its "Gulf (of Mexico) Guardian Award" to the Port of Houston for its TrashCat™-based clean-up of the Buffalo Bayou.

See the story in the October 2004 issue of the "Port of Houston Authority" publication at http://portofhouston.com/pdf/pubaffairs/POHA_mag-septoct-04.pdf