The USS Yorktown Environmental Assessment and Remediation project will begin its second and final phase to remove hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic pollutants from the historic ship.
The governor and the South Carolina Office of Resilience said the project will start Feb. 24, 2025, following a notice to proceed on Feb. 17, 2025.
The project results from Republican Gov. Henry McMaster’s 2022 executive order, which directed SCOR to remove over a million gallons of toxic pollutants from the Yorktown that are at risk of leaking into Charleston Harbor.
Commissioned in 1943, the Essex-class Yorktown aircraft carrier was converted to an attack aircraft carrier in the 1950s and then to an anti-submarine aircraft carrier in 1957. After decommissioning in 1970, it was donated to the Patriots Point Development Authority and relocated to Charleston Harbor in 1975.
When the aircraft carrier was decommissioned, the US Navy did not have strict decommissioning procedures and made the ship available to South Carolina “as is” and “without warranty.” This included potentially hazardous materials on board when the ship was relocated.
In July 2022, Governor McMaster directed SCOR to identify all legacy contaminants aboard the Yorktown and develop a plan to remediate the hazardous materials. SCOR awarded the Yorktown Environmental Assessment and Remediation project an American Rescue Plan Act State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds grant for $10.7 million for Phase I and $18.9 million for Phase II, for a total award of $29.9 million.
Cleanup is a timely priority due to the continued corrosion of the Yorktown’s outer hull. While no hazardous materials have yet to leak from the ship into the harbor, a potential leak would significantly damage the area’s natural resources and the harbor’s ecosystem, including nearby marshes, estuaries, barrier islands, tidal creeks, and beaches.
