E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSA 20-foot boat came ashore Friday in Washington state covered in massive barnacles. When invasive, non-native species are suddenly introduced into an eco-system, they can cause an environmental disaster. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
The Japanese tsunami debris washing ashore on West Coast beaches is so far a novelty that has locals talking and tourists visiting, but those sporadic beachings will become more frequent -- and more costly to clean up.
In addition to removing the debris, and in some cases trying to reunite it with owners in Japan, crews must also deal with the threat of invasive marine species that could threaten local ecosystems if they grab a foothold.
Oregon's Department of Parks and Recreation learned first hand about the costs when a 66-foot-long dock landed on a beach near Newport last month.
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
A volunteer on June 7 burns marine organisms off a Japanese dock that came ashore near Newport, Ore.
Volunteers helped burn non-native seaweed and other organisms clinging to the dock, and the department put in $4,300 for machinery. The state on Tuesday also accepted a bid of $84,000 to have the structure removed from the beach. Other bids ranged as high as $240,000.
"As far as who pays, there is no single budget set aside for it at this point," parks spokesman Chris Havel told msnbc.com. "We are working with the governor's office and federal legislators to try and shield coastal communities from the direct cost as much as we can, but there are no concrete answers yet."
As for the months ahead, "no one knows how much it could cost, or who will pay," Havel said. For now, the department has to "pay for it up front" with funds budgeted for other items.
At the federal level, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awards grants for cleanup of marine debris, but that program was created before the 2011 tsunami and is meant to deal with smaller messes.
When a large dock that broke away from a Japanese harbor after the tsunami and washed up on an Oregon beach, it brought along millions of organisms. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
Grants have totaled up to $1 million a year recently, NOAA spokeswoman Monica Allen told msnbc.com, but the program isn't accepting new proposals until the fall.
Even worse for Oregon, "the program does not award grants for past work done before the award," Allen said.
In Washington state, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday said the state has some funds set aside for tsunami debris cleanup, but it's likely not enough. "We don't have the resources at the state level to do what we're going to have to do here," she said.
Northwest Public Radio said a state ecology spokesman suggested Washington might even send Japan the bill for cleanups. "That's something that needs to be sorted through," Curt Hart said.
But the state department later said that comment was misconstrued, and that it referred to the broader issue of how to pay for cleaning up the debris. State officials have never considered asking the Japanese government for funds, the department told msnbc.com.
NOAA's Allen said the agency is working with communities to "reduce any possible impacts to our natural resources and coastal communities," but she stopped short of saying federal funds were available.
A basketball that washed away during last year's tsunami in Japan was returned to its rightful place Wednesday. NBC's Michelle Franzen reports.
"This is an ongoing issue," she said, urging communities to keep an eye on NOAA's marine debris website.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
If my house explodes and the debris lands all over your yard, I am held responsible for cleaning it up. Not to hammer on Japan after all that they have suffered... but does the same standard apply?
Your house exploding is a lot different then a natural disaster.
A natural disaster...you can't blame on anyone. It's considered an 'Act of God.'
Seriously, Jim? ...so, if an earthquake originates at an epicenter in one town and ends with the demolition of a neighboring town, is the fault of town God decided to start the tremor in?
I don't know if you could say you can't blame it on anyone. You can't blame the actual incidence on anyone but certainly they bear the blame of the consequences. Japan is well known for their earthquakes and tsunamis, they shouldn't be building within tsunami distance of the shoreline any more.
Look at those shameless people burning the homeless mussels and seaweed - the same ignorance they used on witches. They should be looking for constructive ways to return the poor creatures to their native grounds.
Agreed Cheetah. How do they think our "native" species arrived? Tsunami and ocean currents are how biodiversity happens. It's only when humans interfere when things get out of hand.
By killing and burning the surviving wildlife, these people are not helping the environment. They're hindering it. As usual.
An insurance company would definitely distinguish between natural and man-made damage. When high winds damaged trees here, we paid to deal with the one that fell within our property lines. But there was another near the property line that dropped a limb onto our neighbor's lawn. That became their responsibility.
Nature decides to send things elsewhere to spread out. And now we need to stop nature again, just like we need to stop anything done by man! I guess the "government" believes it should decide natures laws also now. Who knows this could have caused the creation of an entirely new species as they interacted one hardier and able to adapt to changes better then what is round now. but now we may never know what might have been, and if a new species could have maybe even held the secrets to curing new diseases
I think that Japan should get involved in some way. Scientists from the country should try to help discussing ideas in how to prevent a massive catastrophe because of invasive marine species. They eat seaweed that reproduces rapidly, just like weeds. They harvest that for their consumption, but it is not part of our diet. That seaweed would CHOKE many of the marine species of our beaches.
We just need to deal with it. If Japan had bulldozed the stuff into the ocean it would be different.
Most insurance companies don't cover "Acts of God"...
I think USA should pay for the entire damage caused by the earthquake and the tsunami in Japan and anywhere else in the world, because we can print the dollars!! Yay. What da ya say? Send a memo to Bernanke please. We should not be selfish and pocket all the printed dollars. Print some and give to the unfortunate also. I am serious.
This is definitely an act of god. I am sure the Tsunami stuff will be washing up all over. The idea of holding Japan responsible is like holding the countries in the Indian Ocean quake of 2004 responsible for their debris...
It was no ones fault and if stuff shows up here we need to clean it up or put up with it.
There is a LOT of stuff coming our way so what?
Chris Wanker: it depends on what your policy covers - as in what risks you are requesting to be insured against and whether or not you are willing to add endorsements to your policy to cover things noramally not in a run-of-the-mill policy. Take car insurance for example: when you hit the deer on the road and are covered with comprehensive AND have endorsements for collision beyond other drivers, then your policy will cover the 'Act of God' and you will not have points added to your driving record. You can have your vehicle repaired if you front your agreed amount of self-insurance (your deductible); you get nothing if you do not meet your deductible. IF you have limited liability on your auto, you may not have points added to your record, but you are on your own as far as any damage incurred to your vehicle, no matter what or who you hit. Again - you have to look at your policy and see what kinds of endorsements (if any) that your insurer will agree to make given your driving history.
What I don't understand is why Oregon or Washington (or whoever owns Mount Saint Helens) wasn't billed for the clean up that was endured by cities in the fallout zone or in Canada: no one helped out in that situation, so why should you want to bill Japan now because the shoe is on the other foot? Maybe they should do what DantheMan claims above and just move out of all of the surrounding towns and areas of the West Coast where there are risks to volcanoes, earthquakes, fault subduction, air shockwave (explosion), smoke damage from fires, wildland fires that are programmed to burn like California, etc, etc, etc. (REALLY - there isn't a truly 'safe' place on the Earth, Dan. Regardless of what the Flat Earth Society claims, this planet is dynamic, unpredictable and uncontrolable: ie You just have to live with it. But at least it comes with a free trip around the sun, eh?).
Just burn it or let the waves take of it. It will all be gone in 5 years
I aint no Nostrodamous but I will predict that the powers to be will do nothing but bicker over who is responsible to clean this up for years and in the meantime the problem of the invasive species will only get worse. This is typicle of our government. By the time they come to an agreement it will be too late. Just like the chineese carp problem in the chicago area rivers. They argued for years about what to do and now it is too late to do anything. There are hundreds of examples just like that all over this country.
This would be a good use for federal funds from a government that so many people want to see less of. How does that quotation go? "Government is good for doing things for people that they can't do for themselves."
Otherwise, you're on your own, Oregonians. That seems to be the trend these days. Don't bother helping anyone else. Suck it up. Deal with it on your own. The rest of us don't give a flying...
Well, I do. But people like me must be in the minority; otherwise, Congress wouldn't be full of people touting utter selfishness as a sane principle on which to base a social structure.
I keep finding this junk in the back yard, attic, and garage and I want it out.
......if the debris had belonged to the U.S. everybody (other countries) and their brother would be looking for money to clean it up. I agree that it was a Natural Disaster, but the U.S. always seems to have this Target painted on its back which says....."Kick me. I'm stupid and I'll certainly pay you what I don't really owe."
Who foots the bill for cleaning…..? We do, just like any other time. But let’s be a bit creative about this and sort through it. The salvageable bits sell at trash and treasure markets. Proceeds of sale should go to charities. They know what to do with it. The remaining “rubble” can be disposed of in the usual way.
We should foot the bill - it's not like they shoveled the stuff into the ocean. It was a friggin tsunami, we are allied countries, and maybe they will return the favor some time.
If the US demanded Japan pay for it, it would just make us look like a lil' b!tch. Maybe if we weren't so self-centered, the Japanese would be more inclined to offer to help pay for it.
One could argue that Japan never took the necessary precautions to prevent damage from a tsunami, but, the tsunami's strength was unprecedented and there was no way Japan could have prevented all of the damage.
Jeff, we will pay for the cleanup, just as we paid for Katrina, and other hurricanes. Anything else is a waste of time. Maybe we could charge West African nations or hurricanes, possibly started by west African intestional gases. The carbon footprint of that, I am sure, make the hurricanes far more intense.
Who's responsible for cleaning up all the Junk the Worlds Tanker and Cargo Ship Fleet constantly dump in the Ocean? God?
kevin, a natural disaster is somewhat different than a tanker spill, don't you think?
Wait until the radioactive debris starts showing up. We'll see how you feel about this being a natural disaster then.
$84,000 to remove a 66' long dock? Seriously??
We should send China a Bill for all the crap they send over here. Not by a Natural disaster but by building garbage and shipping it over. Mold infested drywall, Toxic toys, and who knows what else.
They have a Tsunami Relief fund tell them to apply that instead of retrofitting their whaling fleet with added security so they can go out and kill whales in a sanctuary
Living in Oregon and waiting for "The Big One" which is now overdue, we might want to consider losing 21,000 human beings in one wave and then getting a bill from China or Indonesia asking us to pay for cleaning up the remains of our dead and our coastal towns that have drifted over there. Anything that lands here from that terrible event should be considered a relic of our common human vulnerability to our own insignificance, a holy testament to how the god(s) treat us. Imagine such a wave (14 meters (~46 ft)) along Long Beach, Washington, or Tillamook, Oregon with nowhere to go.
Regarding inferior or poisonous materials coming here from China, you may want to recall that American corporations make a practice of selling all manner of products banned in America to third world counties whose people are not even protected against these corporate psychopaths from the most insidious and toxic products due to corporate corruption of local governments run by the same kind of sociopaths currently infesting our own government. If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, China must have great admiration for America.
The material that lands here should be considered the personal effects of thousands of people lost at sea and treated with the same respect any other such property would receive. This is not junk, it is the bell that tolls for thee and for all of us.
Another thing you might want to consider. Regarding Japan, we owe a greater moral debt to the Japanese People than anything the old Nazis might owe to the Jews. We pushed them into a corner and started the war with them to politically justify an unpopular war in Europe to save zionist investments, we put good Americans into concentration camps, we fire bombed their cities, we executed their POWs routinely, and in 1945, while they were desperately trying to open surrender negotiations and we were ignoring them, we dropped Atomic Bombs on two completely non-strategic targets full of women, children, infants, and old people simply to test our new toy and show the world who was now boss. This is all historically documented and lied about and covered up with the same old shiat propaganda. Do you think ANY Japanese person would be so disrespectful of another country's enormous tragedy that they would make the kind of sociopathic comments we find here? Only in America, and only the current mentality that has taken over the republican party could be so bestial.
I'm fascinated by your comments and the Marine symbol. Is that some kind of duality going on? Every nation on earth has put some kind of pressure on another nation. Getting into a war over it always results in innocent people getting killed. We don't seem to learn from that. Maybe it is because the old men declare the wars but they send our sons, 18 to 25 years old out to kill each other. No more war! The Marines on Guadalcanal quit taking prisoners when the Japanese booby trapped themselves and blew up Marines that thought they were helping wounded enemy. Cruelty begets cruelty.
If we clean it up, shouldn't the EPA first inspect all of the flotsam to determine whether it meets their standards? I mean, if some of it would not have been allowed in U.S. waters in the first place, should they fine Japan?
Should we just move Oregon to a safer place, like between Colorado and Wyoming where they won't get exposed to the rest of the world's polluted waters?
Is this the very first time in the history of the universe that living creatures from the western Pacific have washed over to this side of the pond?
Stupid, stupid article and title!
We all foot the bill for natural disasters.
In addition, it's hard for me to believe that the tsunami's debris is risking introducing invasive species. The currents have always been moving and debris/organisms are constantly being circulated. Sure, there's a lot more debris than usual, but I have little doubt that millions of organisms have naturally reached our shores from far away places, without the push of a tsunami. Scrubbing off organic life from the remnants of a Japanese dock is a task for Sisyphus.
it was an act of god. send the bill to him.
post no bill's
Interesting, it came back marked nobody here by that name.
Yes, indeedy. Tax the churches.
Send the bill to the Vatican. They represent God here on earth right?
Simply but well put, Mike.
At some point, the Juan De Fuca Plate on the Pacific Northwest Coast is going to slip. Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, Canada, and hundreds of smaller communities along the coast are going to be devastated. And as we try to get our collective @!$%# together, we should have lawyers and insurance companies involved from other Pacific Rim nations to see how much more we can take?
It's not something Japan did. This is not Pearl Harbor The Sequal. It's Nature. I'm willing to bet that 99 percent of the Japanese wish it wouldn't have happened. (The other One Percent? Foreign contractors.)
If a tornado hits a town in the US, residents do not have to run around town collecting their stuff or face charges for it blowing across town. This wasn't negligence, it was a natural disaster, whatever lands on your yard, you need to take care of.
You are right Kate!
I agree, kate!
as far as the debris / if your property is used as an illegal dump for example and no one knows who it is the property owner is responsible for clean up / as far as invasive species goes i'm sure this isnt the first time this has happened so if they survive the colder water more power to them (change is good) altough im sure a court would charge japan i say let them use trustees and or the boyscouts to clean for comunity service for eagle badge or extra credit for time in sooner out . just dumpsters bags and landfill charge that way and hey guess what i always know the alaskan indians were more japanes than mongol theory proven yet again ........
Actually, Oregon beaches already have twice yearly massive beach cleanups because ocean debris from boats and overseas countries is normal; however, this is not a normal situation and local resources will be strained, not to mention the sensitivity of dealing with items from a huge natural disaster with massive loss of life.
Then throw in the invasive species problem...and yes, it IS a problem, just like English Ivy and Himalayan Blackberry...are people ignorant about the effect of invasive species on a native habitat? Especially local species already stressed by over harvesting and pollution?
Not ignorant about 'invasive' species - just don't care. Survival of the fittest and evolution at work. So Seattle loses a few trees... BFD. Wildfires wipe out more trees in the US than Ivy or Blackberry EVER will. Something dies, something replaces it. Such is life.
My Blackberry has NEVER hurt a tree (that I know of).
This sounds so stupid. Americans are about to spend billions of dollars in TV commercials (light and sound energy to stimulate our sensory perceptions) as to whom ought to be the next President;instead wants to worry about a concrete thing as this. Let's see how much the Koch Brothers love the environment, I know Bill Gates will put his money to this.
You know what I find stupid? I find it stupid that people actually believe that Mother Nature had something to do with the earthquake! Does anyone know about the experiments that were being coducted by our Navy off the coast of Japan at the time of this so called earthquake? Out of all the coast line of Japan. The earthquake had to happen on the same coast line where the reactors were? and of all people to bring up about giving some of his money to help out????LOL There is nothing more he would like to see if three billion people were to die!!
PLEASE tell me you are joking! PLEASE! This is one helluva conspiracy theory. Do you really think that Man can cause such a catastrophe?
Dude, lay off the bath-salts!
"...Does anyone know about the experiments that were being coducted by our Navy off the coast of Japan at the time of this so called earthquake?..."
Nope, everyone does not. Enlighten the ignorant masses.
rjwiseass - I bet you believe that Obama was born in Kenya and is a muslim and that the attack on the twin towers was planned and executed by the CIA, right? And do you still buy bottled spring water so your family doesn't have to drink fluoridated water?
rjwiseguy is either a troll or one of those conspiracy theorists who clings to their notions despite the facts that are presented before them. In the case of the earthquake in Japan, the rift on the ocean floor was actually found and photographed. But give him a chance and he'll tell you all about HAARP and chemtrails, and other assorted boogymen. Or you can just ignore him.
Quick everyone, to the fallout shelters!!
What would be nice is that the Discussion could be kept to intelligent comments related to the natural disaster cleanup. This won't happen of course, because there's a segment of the population, roughly 10%, who thrive on seeing how stupid their world view appears in public.
The earthquake and subsequent tsunami are natural disasters, akin to the forest fires now burning, droughts, floods, volcanoes, etc. If people got a basic education in science, and understood how these events occurred, they could come up with mitigating solutions, predictions, and tolerances. God does not have to be part of the explanation. Invasive species, though a regional headache for a "more ordered" worldview of how things "should be ", don't strive for life because of the opinions and wishes of the coastal residents of Oregon. The ocean current which carried the organisms from Japan to Oregon, changes in temperature and salinity, which may be the reason these species weren't transported to our west coast naturally ages ago, successfully establishing breeding populations here. This is just part of the brilliance of Charles Darwin's thinking. This is just an example in modern times, how species might have been introduced to the Gallapagos Islands ages ago, the turtles, the finches, the iguanas, etc.
Give up on the Church explanations. They don't cut it. Enhance your understandings of water and its currents, and how things float, sink, thrive or die, and modify your coastal population center expectations accordingly.
If you see somethin' on the beach that bothers you, clean it up. Otherwise, no big deal. Nature will take care of it sooner or later.
Of course it is a natural disaster and no one (or country's) fault. That is a "no-brainer." What really aggravates me though, is that MSNBC chose to post this headline, "Who foots the bill for cleaning up Japan's tsunami debris," just to start a thread, stir up peoples feelings, and bring out the crazies. I switched to MSNBC from another news network's home page because they were just doing too much of that kind of nonsense. Now it looks like I'm going to have to seek out another home page. This is supposed to be news and newsworthy stories, not entertainment. What ever happened to responsible journalism?
Interesting that MSNBC chose to cover ths story over the Holder/Obama coverup. MSNBC is a disgrace, but... who watches/listens to them anyways.
Go to politics this is the wrong site for that.
Foxbots are so easily manipulated.
and distracted.
"Look... a shiny object"!
"bobsopinion"
...obviously you do, troll.
Why even come to this website, let alone make comments about its articles?
I agree, MSNBC is not about to cover the Holder and Obama coverup by this administration. They would rather cover this dumb story about something that doesn't really matter to this country other then some West coast states. Big deal, bury the junk and quit whining about it.
What happened today in this great country is another coverup like WaterGate and Obama will have to come clean or he should resign along with his Holder. Everything they say is a ly.
There are many, many things happening in this world that have nothing to do with American politics. Some of us like to know about and discuss them. You politically obsessed people have the entire internet to practice your obsession, kindly use it and let those of us that think about the world at large discuss the issue at hand. Thanks!!
Lloyd's of London, or Greece.
??? Lloyd's of London isn't an insurance company - they are a syndicate whose members agree to share in insurance contracts but they are not an insurance company. Lloyds is responsible for the contracts that they write, for starters.....
always love it when a guy writes a one liner in jest and the next writer has to seriously explain how the thing works. So why do they put brail on drive up ATM's ?
Thanks for the starters Alex. Lloyd's is a market for insurance companies and contracts exchange. For all intents and purposes they are an insurance company, the mother of them all.
This has to be the stupidest comment I have ever seen in print. How the hell is Japan, or ANY other country, responsible for a natural disaster and/or the resulting debris from the same, drifting thousands of miles to some other place in the world!?
Idiocy!
MRI, that DID come from PUBIC RADIO, so it is a given that it would be a stupid comment.
Whoever wants it cleaned up foots the bill, otherwise leave it where it sits. I could care less. The problem is easily solved when you stop expecting someone else to clean it up and also pay for it.
You hit the nail on the head. Common sense, I'd say.
The money to clean up has to come from somewhere and it is not a problem as easily solved as you think. If you "could care less" why bother to comment?
Tsunamis have occurred for eons, and have washed all sorts of debris across the ocean carrying marine organisms. Why is this occurrence any different?
Spike, it is different because, even if they don't even mention it in this news, some of the debris will be radioactive. They say the marine organisms might influence the local environment, but I believe this is just to cover the radioactivity problem that the West Coast will face.
Chicken Littles have been flippin' out about radiation since the 50's. Get over it already. If you're scared, don'tt eat Pacific seafood. FFS. Babies.
spike, because environmentalist wackos say it is different.
Who is going to pay for the clean up? Why Uncle Sucker and all the little suckers, that's who. Don't we pick up the Tab for everything that goes wrong in the world? Why should this be any different.
Natural disaster or building in a tsunami zone.................................
I vote Japan.
They hold a lot of our debt which could be used to clean up their mess.
Certainly they are libel for the radiation dumped in the Ocean and now turning up in food fish.
We are the worlds policemen, now we are also the worlds garbage man?
so don't eat fish. Problem solved. That was easy, wasn't it?
Thanks to BoredswithsameO for FINALLY seeing whole picture!!! I'm all for the Japanese bringing barges over here and at the very least HELPING clean up their $**t.
Maybe I would be a little more compassionate/sympathetic but these people are so brilliant they chose to build a nuclear reactor on the beach!
Let me see... 80% of the tsunamis in the world are in the Pacific Rim. Japan is hit be almost everyone one of them! Thanks for assuming that the rest of us want to put up with your piss-poor choices!
And then let's top it all off by sending back personal belongings! Are you kidding me? Two years ago, my truck was stolen and about $5000.00 worth of personal belongings in it. It was less than 2 miles from the local police department, but the keystone cops couldn't find it! The insurance company didn't pay me one red cent for ANY of my things! Would anyone please feel sorry for me? Wait a minute. I'm just some dumb ass who pays and receives NO COMPENSATION. Just more of "the good old American way."
Come and get your crap yourselves, Japan!
Hey fred, get a life.
That's a totally outrageous price to have that thing removed - somebody is just trying to get rich off the government again. As for the return of any of this stuff to Japan, if they want it, let them come look for it at their own expense - it's not our problem. I suggest that the people of these coastal towns just come together, bring out their chainsaws, axes, hammers, and whatever they have and start loading their pickups with that crap. Then allow it all to be dumped at the local dump free of charge. Or just burn it all on the beach and have a huge bonfire - play music and just call it a beach party.....
thanks for the laugh...and the sad thing is, i'm pretty sure you were actually serious.
If it bothers you, build a fence to block your view or go clean it up. If you're worried about radioactive fish, eat something else. It ain't Rocket Surgery. I could give 2 @!$%#s about some trash on the west coast; it's not like there are wonderful tourist beaches to worry about.
Fred, that kind of ignorance is what is wrong with the world today. If it doesn't affect me. I don't give a damn about the rest of the world, huh? Sad...
Fred, there are indeed wonderful tourist beaches in California, Oregon and Washington. Maybe you need to get out more and explore the world a bit more, and you might have a clue about what you are talking about.
After any disaster, we would offer assistance including money. Well lets just say it would be bad etiquette to ask the downtrodden for a contribution.
Yeah, when my basement flooded after a hurricane, I suspect I should have sent the bill from my home in Virginia to the state of North Carolina. They had the storm first, and did nothing to stop it.
Sheesh.
Badly written story and bad reporting. The cost of cleaning up the debris is a concern, but "Who foots the bill" is simple. The place where all of this crap washes up. Sorry about that.
You cant exactly sue mother nature.
morlack, and tell me why not? :-)
cheetah-822547
Look at those shameless people burning the homeless mussels and seaweed - the same ignorance they used on witches. They should be looking for constructive ways to return the poor creatures to their native grounds.
#1.4 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:07 PM CDT
journal journal
Agreed Cheetah. How do they think our "native" species arrived? Tsunami and ocean currents are how biodiversity happens. It's only when humans interfere when things get out of hand.
By killing and burning the surviving wildlife, these people are not helping the environment. They're hindering it. As usual.
LOL, you two are comedians, killing a few organisms out of millions wont devastate anything.
Oh the humanity of those precious little mussels. There is a tear in my eye.
Hmm... perhaps the wealthy would be interested in sharing a bit of their riches to help out their country and humanity instead of hoarding it all for their own pleasure?
I didn't think so.
lol...you should really consider changing yer name...it doesn't sound like you are much of an optimist...
How is transferring millions (if not billions) of dollars from a few wealthy individuals to a few corrupt cleanup companies going to help humanity? Once the federal or charitable money starts flowing, then cost is no object. Better for each oceanside community to decide how big a problem debris REALLY is, and how much money/time/effort they are willing to spend to clean it up. SO much money was wasted after Katrina and the BP oil leak (it was NOT a spill) because no one involved cared about cost; it was a blank check to do as they pleased.
optimist, they already give you eighty percent of the total income tax collected. Just name how much more would you want?
Really, a natural disaster happens and they are concerned with charging someone to clean up the mess. Where are all the Conservationists at. I'm sure they would do it for nothing.
Who pays for the cleanup? It's obvious. The taxpayers will. The taxpayers in the west coast states will probably pay the most but I'm sure the federal government will chip in tens of millions of American taxpayers' dollars.
yea, I would much rather have to fork out some cash to pay for the debris cleanup than to pay for a complete rebuild of the west coast when one hits.
Martime law likely edges toward Japan being responsible. Losses due to oil spills are a good example of responsibility for a proximate cause.
I'd rather pay to clean up tsunami debris than a lot of the other crap that my tax dollars wind up going for!
Mother Nature... how come nobody says Father Nature? If Mother is the first, who was her Father? just something to think about.
That's why Mother Nature is such an SOB. Father Nature ran off with hot, busty, secretary.
Perhaps Mother Nature is God's wife???
Michelle Obama is God's wife. Everyone knows that.
Who will foot the bill for all the crap from japan? The American taxpayer, of course- the same who pay for everything thing else!
So Japan goes through the hellof a Tsunami and a little bit of trash washes up on our beaches and folks are really going to bitch about who will pay to clean it up? Like Japan had any choice about having a Tsunami hit their coastal towns? This is the exact same reason that our government is in so much trouble today. Everybody wants all the services that the government provides but nobody wants to pay for it. The human race is a bunch of greedy losers who are going to greed themselves into non existence if they do not change their ways. The facts are that sometimes you have to clean up and pay for stuff you don't want to. Get over it and be responsible and get it cleaned up.
A "little bit of trash?" Are you serious or just ignorant?
hasoos misses the point: Japans @!$%# washes up on our shores and we pay to clean it up. If our @!$%# washed up on their shores, we not they, would pay to clean it up. Get it?