USS Arizona pollution

[Gaara♥]

The USS Arizona is a battleship that was named after the 48th state of Arizona. This battleship was attacked and sunk by the Japanese during their attack on Pearl Harbor, taking 1,177 lives to trapped with the ship on the ocean floor in Hawaii.

Here we are nearly 70 years later and the ship still lies on the ocean floor as a memorial for those lives that were lost. Unfortunately, the 70 years that it lay dormant on the ocean bed have also been 70 years that the USS Arizona has been leaking oil into the ocean at about one quart a year, and will continue to leak over the next 200 years.

Should this memorial remain on the bottom of the ocean and continue to leak oil, or despite it being a memorial, should the government finally salvage the ship to stop the oil leakage and erect an above sea level memorial that doesn't cause long term pollution?

Also, I have to run off to school and then work shortly after so I will edit this post with links and more info if needed.

 

[GwJ]

This would be easily solved by patching the holes.

 

[Vorguen]

How can you honor the dead by having their legacy pollute the land where they stood fighting? People actually live there, and it is upsetting the balance of the ecosystem. This is affecting both the people there, and the environment. I'm sure none of the dead from the USS Arizona meant for their deaths to be anything other than patriotic, in the name of and for helping the US, and not wanting their deaths to bring further harm.

 

[GwJ]

Exactly. This is really just America's ego getting the better of us again. We're hurting others for our pride.

 

[Flamingo]

I don't see why there has to be a need for completely salvaging the ship... It seems sort of logical that just the oil tank can be removed, drained, or patched. This would be the ideal solution, however, if there is a scenario where the ship has to be completely salvaged to end this leakage, I believe that the proper hing to do would be to scrap the ship in favor of the health of the planet, and ourselves.
After this, another memorial could easily be constructed in its place, or near it, to commemorate our fallen soldiers' deaths.

 

[Vorguen]

Or the salvaged ship could be reconstructed (or fixed) into a memorial on land.

 

[Gaara♥]

I don't see why there has to be a need for completely salvaging the ship... It seems sort of logical that just the oil tank can be removed, drained, or patched. This would be the ideal solution, however, if there is a scenario where the ship has to be completely salvaged to end this leakage, I believe that the proper hing to do would be to scrap the ship in favor of the health of the planet, and ourselves.
After this, another memorial could easily be constructed in its place, or near it, to commemorate our fallen soldiers' deaths.

I talked to history teacher earlier today and he says the reason they don't want to salvage the ship and just erect a land memorial is because the bodies of all the soldiers are still on the ship(in some form or another) and they don't want to disturb their resting place.

 

[Vorguen]

So this is centered around some superstition as well? The soldiers who died in war aren't buried where they are kiilled. They are brought back to their country and given an honorable burial. Why can't these soldiers be given the same respect? In a way, they are being disrespected by being kept underwater, when other soldiers are given proper burials amongst their other comrades.

 

[GwJ]

Exactly. 99.490384524% of the time, these kinds of 'memorials' are to keep those that are to be respected in their own resting places. The problem is that we do this at the cost of pollution in our environment.