Fragment of dock ripped from Japanese coastline to begin in US.
Work will start this week on Agate Beach near Newport on removing a 66-foot dock that washed ashore last month as one of the biggest pieces of debris from the Japanese tsunami.
Workers with Ballard Diving and Salvage of Vancouver plan to cut the 132-ton dock in pieces and truck them to a facility in Sherwood.
The Oregonian reports the city of Newport plans to save one large piece of the dock for a memorial to be displayed at the Marine Science Center.
Since it washed ashore June 5, the dock has attracted record numbers of visitors from all over the country who want to touch it and take photos. Oregon Parks and Recreation counted about 73,000 cars in June and July at Agate Beach State Park.
The Japanese government estimates that 1.5 million tons of debris are floating in the ocean from the catastrophe. Some experts in the United States think the bulk of that trash will never reach shore, while others fear a massive, slowly unfolding environmental disaster.
Read more here.
