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<div class=Section1>
<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Feds
want to survey, possibly clean up vast garbage pit in Pacific<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Justin Berton, Chronicle Staff Writer<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2007/10/30/MNT5T1NER.DTL&o=0"><!--/.toolset--><!--/.articletools--><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1044"
src="cid:image001.gif@01C81B9E.278DDB50" vspace=1
alt="Researcher Charles Moore, shown on an expedition in the P..."></span></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2007/10/30/MNT5T1NER.DTL&o=1"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1045"
src="cid:image002.gif@01C81B9E.278DDB50" vspace=1
alt="A Mammoth Garbage Pit in the Pacific. Chronicle graphic b..."></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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src="cid:image004.jpg@01C81B9E.278DDB50" align=left hspace=12 v:shapes="_x0000_s1029"><![endif]><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span id=bodytext></span>The
so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a stewy body of plastic and marine
debris that floats an estimated 1,000 miles west of San Francisco, is a
shape-shifting mass far too large, delicate and remote to ever be cleaned up,
according to a researcher who recently returned from the area.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>But that
might not stop the federal government from trying.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Charles
Moore, the marine researcher at the Algalita Marina Research Foundation in Long
Beach who has been studying and publicizing the patch for the past 10 years,
said the debris - which he estimates weighs 3 million tons and covers an area
twice the size of Texas - is made up mostly of fine plastic chips and is
impossible to skim out of the ocean. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"Any
attempt to remove that much plastic from the oceans - it boggles the
mind," <st1:City w:st="on">Moore</st1:City> said from <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Hawaii</st1:place></st1:State>, where his crew is docked.
"There's just too much, and the ocean is just too big."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The trash
collects in one area, known as the North Pacific Gyre, due to a clockwise trade
wind that circulates along the <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific Rim</st1:place>. It
accumulates the same way bubbles gather at the center of hot tub, <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moore</st1:place></st1:City> said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>A
two-liter plastic bottle that begins its voyage from a storm drain in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City> will get
pulled into the gyre and take weeks to reach its place among the other debris
in the Garbage Patch.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>While the
bottle floats along, instead of biodegrading, it will "photodegrade,"
Moore said - the sun's UV rays will turn the bottle brittle, much like they
would crack the vinyl on a car roof. They will break down the bottle into small
pieces and, in some cases, into particles as fine as dust.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
Garbage Patch is not a solid island, as some people believe, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Moore</st1:place></st1:City> said. Instead, it resembles a soupy
mass, interspersed with large pieces of junk such as derelict fishing nets and
waterlogged tires - "an alphabet soup," he called it. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Also,
it's undetectable by overhead satellite photos because it's 80 percent plastic
and therefore translucent, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moore</st1:place></st1:City>
added. The plastic moves just beneath the surface, from one inch to depths of
300 feet, according to samples he collected on the most recent trip, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>By <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moore</st1:place></st1:City>'s estimation, the
"floating landfill" is also simply too far from land to conduct any
meaningful cleanup operation. It's about 1,000 miles west of <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>
and 1,000 miles north of the <st1:place w:st="on">Hawaiian Islands</st1:place>
- a week's journey by boat from the nearest port. It swirls in a convergence
zone located about 30 to 40 degrees north latitude and 135 to 145 west
longitude.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>There's
no doubt that a stew of marine debris exists in the convergence zone of the
gyre, said Holly Bamford, an oceanographer and director of the marine debris
program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but there is
some debate as to its size. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Moore</span></font></st1:place></st1:City> has led
most of the research and publicity surrounding the Garbage Patch, so Bamford
said her federal agency, which oversees ocean conditions, is collecting its own
data to assess the area and density.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Bamford
said she has noted some "gaps in the research" that suggest the
affected area is not as large as <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moore</st1:place></st1:City>
estimates. Yet there's no question that marine debris is gathering in the area
and is having a negative impact on marine life, such as fish who mistake the
particles for food.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"But
before we embark on a huge removal process," Bamford said, "we need
to understand what we're dealing with."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Bamford
added that the agency had attempted to take satellite photos of the area last
year, but the overhead photos were inconclusive. "It's hard to distinguish
a whale reaching the surface versus a piece of plastic," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Still,
Bamford said the agency is considering flying unmanned aircraft that can be
launched from boats to skim the ocean's surface and collect data. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>But
launching the drones is 18 months away, Bamford said. It could be two years
before a federal plan is enacted to remove the plastic - if it's warranted,
Bamford said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"Once
we get to that stage, we'd need to ask, 'If we can remove it, what would be the
best way? And what would we do with it afterward? If we collect it, would we
bring it back to shore - and then what, put it in a landfill?' "<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In the
meantime, as the production and the use of plastic continue to grow, so will
the Garbage Patch, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moore</st1:place></st1:City>
said. The only way to reduce marine debris, all sides agree, is to cut it off
at its source - on land. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
dramatic growth in plastics use over the past two decades is what distresses
activists like <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moore</st1:place></st1:City>.
The annual production of plastic resin in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> has roughly doubled
in the past 20 years, from nearly 60 billion pounds in 1987 to an estimated 120
billion pounds in 2007, according to a study by the American Chemistry Council,
which represents the nation's largest plastic and chemical manufacturers. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Keith
Cristman, a senior director of packaging at the American Chemistry Council,
said the plastics industry is aware of its connection to marine debris and said
the council is working with federal and state agencies to put more recycling
bins on <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
beaches in an attempt to stop plastic bottles and bags from making their way to
the sea. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>At the
end of November, Cristman said, the council is co-sponsoring its first marine
debris workshop with state and federal agencies. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Cristman
said he'd rather see more plastic recycled than production slowed. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"Plastic
is a valuable resource," he said. "It shouldn't be wasted, it should
be recycled."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Asked if
the council would assist in any cleanup of the Garbage Patch if the federal
government called on it, Cristman said, "We're always interested in
working with NOAA and the EPA."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Moore</span></font></st1:place></st1:City> said his
crew had collected new data that suggested more plastic is entering the gyre,
yet he was hesitant to elaborate until he finalized the research.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"The
ocean is downhill from everywhere," <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Moore</st1:place></st1:City>
said. "It's like a toilet that never flushes. You can't take these
particles out of the ocean. You can just stop putting them in."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</span>
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