Reef!

This is coolbert:

“they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks"

From the Chicago Tribune today:

“NATION & WORLD”

“Rusty Cold War relic headed for reef duty”

“KEY WEST, Fla. - - Aboard the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, . . . it’s anything but business as usual.”

“Crews are preparing the decommissioned ship for sinking Wednesday . . . The 17,000-ton, 523-foot-long ship will be sunk [on Wednesday] . . . in about 140 feet of clear water.”

A military vessel, the mission of which was:

“a missile tracker for about 20 more years [15 years prior as a transport ship] and was retired in 1983.”

Will be sunk intentionally to create an artificial reef! A reef that will ultimately become a haven for all sorts of marine life, corals, and as an attraction for scuba divers.

“The Vandenberg will become the world’s second-largest intentionally sunk artificial reef.”

Preparing the vessel for “duty” was not easy! A lot of work had to be done to remove hazardous substances [HAZMAT], potential contaminants that WOULD BE INJURIOUS TO MARINE LIFE!! Hazmat to include:

* “1 million feet of wire.”

* “dozens of watertight steel doors.”

* “1,599 vent gaskets.”

* “81 bags of asbestos.”

* “193 tons of other potentially cancer causing substances.”

* “46 tons of garbage.”

* “300 pounds of materials containing mercury.”

* “185 55-gallon drums of paint chips.”

NO ONE EVER SAID THAT SINKING A SHIP WAS EASY!!

Please note too the quotation from scripture at the start of the blog entry!! This is perhaps one quotation that GQ and various religious “experts” will approve of?!

coolbert.