tsunami debris

Workers are waitingin Forks for better weather to start removing a 65-foot long dock that washed ashore on the Washington coast from the Japanese…

The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan served as a wake up call for coastal residents and visitors on our shores. But two years later, it is hard

Wreckage believed to be from the 2011 Japanese tsunami is washing up thousands of miles away in Alaska. The debris isn't just unsightly — it poses environmental worries for the landscape and animals. One conservationist says the problem may be worse than the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

A team from Washington Fish and Wildlife is trying to figure out whether the newest rusty visitor to the Northwest coast came from the 2011 tsunami in

State and federal biologists say they are confident they have minimized the invasive species threat posed by a derelict dock that washed ashore last month in Olympic National Park. The concrete and steel dock appears to have drifted across the Pacific Ocean after last year's tsunami in Japan. But the story is not over yet. A tsunami debris response team hiked in with scrapers, ratchets and a shovel to a remote Olympic coast beach. National Park Service ecologist Steven Fradkin says the team spent two days cleaning off all the visible sea life clinging to the huge dock, including Japanese seaweeds and barnacles. "From a marine invasive species perspective, I think that we have largely nullified the invasive threat from the dock." Fradkin says the park service is determined to remove the derelict dock from its resting place on a scenic, wilderness beach. It won't be possible to slice it up and haul away the pieces by truck as was done with another tsunami debris dock near Newport, Oregon last summer. Fradkin says the options here include towing the hulk to sea with a tugboat or lifting out chopped-up pieces by helicopter. "This is new territory for everybody," remarked Allen Pleus, aquatic invasive species coordinator for Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife. A coastal section of Olympic National Park around the beached dock remains closed to the public while the government agencies ponder the next step. The size and design of the dock which beached on the Olympic coast is virtually identical to the dock remnant that drifted ashore near Newport. Last June, the Japanese consulate confirmed that Newport debris was set adrift by the March 2011 tsunami from the fishing port of Misawa. On the Web: Forks Dock in Olympic National Park (Washington State Marine Debris Task Force)

Federal, state and tribal officials are attempting to track a large dock that was reported drifting off the coast of Washington state.NOAA spokeswoman…

EVERETT, Wash. — A Seattle oceanographer who has been tracking debris from the Japanese tsunami says a huge debris field, hundreds of miles across, is…

Winter winds and ocean currents are expected to deposit more debris on the Washington coast from the March 2011 tsunami in Japan.State Ecology Department…

The Japanese government says it will help to cover some of the cost of cleaning up tsunami debris on American and Canadian shores.

The costs of cleaning up Japanese tsunami debris along Northwest coasts are adding up. Oregon says it's reached the $500,000 mark. And officials say debris is now being spotted in unexpected places.