Oregon Tsunami Debris Hotline: What To Do If You Find Items From Japan

June 29th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Find a boxcar-sized dock on the beach, or a soccer ball with Japanese symbols? The state of Oregon wants to hear from you. Just dial 211.

Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber announced the hotline at a news conference Thursday, saying it’s an easy way for residents and visitors to report Japanese tsunami debris. Beginning Friday, the hotline will be staffed during business hours and will take recorded messages at other times.

“I just want to make sure that Oregonians understand that we are on top of this,” Kitzhaber said.

The hotline will allow the public to help keep Oregon’s beaches clean and return any missing Japanese property to its rightful owners, the governor said.

He also said Brig. Gen. Mike Caldwell, deputy director of the Oregon National Guard and interim director of the state’s Office of Emergency Management, will be responsible for coordinating the response and cleanup efforts among state agencies.

It’s important to quickly collect and throw away tsunami debris to keep beaches clean and prevent the introduction of invasive species, Caldwell said. Officials are asking that people not take home debris to keep as souvenirs, but they say there’s little chance of the debris being harmful to human health.

People should be especially mindful of items that might have sentimental value or personal significance to someone in Japan, officials said. When such items wash up, Oregon will work with the Japanese consulate to return them.

Helping with tsunami debris is a new responsibility for the 211 hotline, which was created in 2004 to help people in the Portland area get connected with health and community services. It’s since expanded to cover 80 percent of Oregon’s population, according to the website of the nonprofit organization that operates it.

Oregon will work with California, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii to request money from the federal government to help with their efforts. If the debris had washed up all at once, it would unquestionably qualify for federal disaster funds, Kitzhaber said. But since it’s emerging in pieces, the states will have to work harder, he said.

The Japanese government has estimated 1.5 million tons of debris is floating in the ocean from the March 2011 tsunami. Some U.S. experts think the bulk of that trash will never reach shore, but others fear a massive, slowly unfolding environmental disaster.

Debris that already has arrived on the shores of North America includes oyster farm buoys, soccer balls, boats and a shipping container holding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with Japanese license plates. Earlier this month, a 66-foot dock ripped loose by the big waves landed on Agate Beach near Newport, Ore.

Biologists and volunteers scraped 1.5 tons of marine life from the dock, and Oregon officials say it will cost about $85,000 to remove the structure.

Debris floating in the water is a serious threat to fishermen and other mariners, said Terry Thompson, a Lincoln County Commissioner and commercial fisherman.

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This photo taken Wednesday, June 6, 2012 and supplied by the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation, shows a large dock that washed ashore early Tuesday on Agate Beach, a mile north of Newport, Ore. The nearly 70-foot-long dock was torn loose from a fishing port in northern Japan by last year’s tsunami and drifted across thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean, a Japanese Consulate official said Wednesday.(AP Photo/Oregon Parks and Recreation)
In this photo taken by Canadian Peter Mark in the end of April, 2012, and released on Wednesday, May 2, a Harley-Davidson motorbike lies on a beach in Graham Island, western Canada. Japanese media say the motorcycle lost in last year’s tsunami washed up on the island about 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles) away. The rusted bike was originally found by Mark in a large white container where its owner, Ikuo Yokoyama, had kept it. The container was later washed away, leaving the motorbike half-buried in the sand. Yokoyama, who lost three members of his family in the March 11, 2011, tsunami, was located through the license plate number, Fuji TV reported Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, Peter Mark)
In a photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard the unmanned Japanese fishing vessel Ryou-un Maru dirfts northwest in the Gulf of Alaska approximately 164 miles southwest of Baranof Island Wednesday April 4, 2012. The vessel has been adrift since it was launched by the tsunami caused by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck Japan last year. The Coast Guard is monitoring the vessel, which is currently considered a hazard to navigation. (AP Photo/Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis, U.S. Coast Guard)
In this April 21, 2012 photo released by The Baxters via Kyodo News, David and Yumi Baxter hold a soccer ball and a volleyball which David found, at their house in the suburbs of Anchorage, Alaska. Kyodo News agency says the teenage owner of the soccer ball that apparently floated across the Pacific Ocean after last year’s tsunami is surprised and thankful the ball – which had his name written on it – was found in Alaska. (AP Photo/The Baxters via Kyodo News)
Japanese Float Tsunami Debris

This May 28, 2012 photo provided by Chris Pallister shows a Japanese float is collected on the shore of Montague Island near Seward, Alaska. More than a year after a tsunami devastated Japan, killing thousands of people and washing millions of tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean, neither the U.S. government nor some West Coast states have a clear plan for how to clean up the rubble that floats to American shores. (AP Photo/Chris Pallister)
Peter Clarkson

In this April, 17, 2012, photo, artist Peter Clarkson poses with a portion of a totem pole that he has been building in Tofino, British Columbia. Clarkson made the pole with what he believes are tsunami-related Japanese floats, barrels and Styrofoam. While yet to be raised, the totem links Japan, First Nations and non-First Nations cultures and raises awareness about the ongoing problem of ocean garbage, said Clarkson. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)
In this Dec. 20, 2011 photo provided by Dave Kubiak, Alexus Kwachka holds a yellow float in Kodiak, Alaska. The float, along with 6 others, have been identified as coming from oyster farms in Japan after the tsunami. (AP Photo/ Dave Kubiak)
Japanese Float Tsunami Debris

In this June 6, 2012 photo provided by Chris Pallister, debris is strewn across the shore of Montague Island near Seward, Alaska. More than a year after a tsunami devastated Japan, killing thousands of people and washing millions of tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean, neither the U.S. government nor some West Coast states have a clear plan for how to clean up the rubble that floats to American shores. (AP Photo/Chris Pallister)
Japanese Float Tsunami Debris

In this June 6, 2012 photo provided by Ryan Pallister, Patrick Chandler removes tsunami debris on Montague Island near Seward, Alaska. More than a year after a tsunami devastated Japan, killing thousands of people and washing millions of tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean, neither the U.S. government nor some West Coast states have a clear plan for how to clean up the rubble that floats to American shores. (AP Photo/Gulf of Alaska Keeper, Ryan Pallister)
In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, the derelict Japanese fishing vessel RYOU-UN MARU drifts more than 125 miles from Forrester Island in southeast Alaska where it entered U.S. waters March 31, 2012. The vessel has been adrift since it was launched by a tsunami caused by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck Japan last year. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)
In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, a plume of smoke rises from a derelict Japanese ship after it was hit by canon fire by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter on Thursday, April 5, 2012, in the Gulf of Alaska. The Coast Guard decided to sink the ship dislodged by last year’s tsunami because it was a threat to maritime traffic and could have an environmental impact if it grounded. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen)
In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, a plume of smoke rises from the derelict Japanese ship Ryou-Un Maru after it was hit by canon fire by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter on Thursday, April 5, 2012, in the Gulf of Alaska. The Coast Guard decided to sink the ship dislodged by last year’s tsunami because it was a threat to maritime traffic and could have an environmental impact if it grounded. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)
A rust-encrusted Harley-Davidson motorcycle, shown in this undated handout photo by Peter Mark, made buoyant by the sea container in which it was stored, washed up on an island off the coast of British Columbia after it was lost in last year’s tsunami in Japan, about 6,400 kilometres away. (AP Photo/CBC-Peter Mark, The Canadian Press)
Steve Drane, Ralph Tieleman

Ralph Tieleman, second left, dealership owner Steve Drane, and onlookers look at Ikuo Yokoyama’s 2004 Harley-Davidson Night Train that was swept to sea during the Japanese tsunami, in Langford, British Columbia, Sunday May 6, 2012. The motorcycle is nearing the final stretch in its journey home. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chad Hipolito)
In this undated photo taken before March 11, 2011 by its owner Ikuo Yokoyama and distributed by Japan’s Kyodo News, a Harley-Davidson sits in the garage in Kakuda, Niyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. Japanese media said Wednesday, May 2, 2012, the motorcycle lost in March 11, 2011 tsunami washed up on a Canadian island about 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles) away. (AP Photo/Ikuo Yokoyama via Kyodo News)
Massive dock, potentially tsunami debris, hits Oregon Coast

Scientists from OSU and BLM agents inspect a massive dock with Japanese lettering that washed ashore on Agate Beach on Wednesday, June 6, 2012 a mile north of Newport, Ore. Evidence is mounting that the nearly 70-foot floating dock that washed ashore came from an area of Japan devastated by last year’s tsunami. (AP Photo/The Oregonian, Thomas Boyd)
This photo taken Wednesday, June 6, 2012 and supplied by the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation, shows a large dock that washed ashore early Tuesday on Agate Beach, a mile north of Newport, Ore. The nearly 70-foot-long dock was torn loose from a fishing port in northern Japan by last year’s tsunami and drifted across thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean, a Japanese Consulate official said Wednesday.(AP Photo/Oregon Parks and Recreation)
A man looks at the massive dock with Japanese lettering that washed ashore on Agate Beach Wednesday, June 6, 2012, in Newport, Ore. A nearly 70-foot-long dock that floated ashore on an Oregon beach was torn loose from a fishing port in northern Japan by last year’s tsunami and drifted across thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean, a Japanese Consulate official said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
This photo, taken by the Oregon Park and Recreations Department Thursday, June 7, 2012, shows an exotic pink Japanese acorn barnacle attached to a dock float that washed up on Agate Beach Tuesday near Newport, Ore. State authorities are considering how to dispose of the millions of marine creatures that hitchhiked across the Pacific Ocean aboard the dock float torn loose from a Japanese fishing port by the 2011 tsunami so they will not compound the problem of invasive species.(AP Photo/Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, ho)
This photo, taken by the Oregon Park and Recreations Department Thursday, June 7, 2012, shows exotic mussels attached to a dock float that washed up on Agate Beach Tuesday near Newport, Ore. State authorities are considering how to dispose of the millions of marine creatures that hitchhiked across the Pacific Ocean aboard the dock float torn loose from a Japanese fishing port by the 2011 tsunami so they will not compound the problem of invasive species.(AP Photo/Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, ho)
This photo, taken by the Oregon Park and Recreations Department Thursday, June 7, 2012, shows an invasive specie commonly known as “wakame” attached to a dock float that washed up on Agate Beach Tuesday near Newport, Ore. State authorities are considering how to dispose of the millions of marine creatures that hitchhiked across the Pacific Ocean aboard the dock float torn loose from a Japanese fishing port by the 2011 tsunami so they will not compound the problem of invasive species.(AP Photo/Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, ho)
This photo, taken by the Oregon Park and Recreations Department Thursday, June 7, 2012, shows an exotic mussel attached to a dock float that washed up on Agate Beach Tuesday near Newport, Ore. State authorities are considering how to dispose of the millions of marine creatures that hitchhiked across the Pacific Ocean aboard the dock float torn loose from a Japanese fishing port by the 2011 tsunami so they will not compound the problem of invasive species.(AP Photo/Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, ho)
This photo taken Wednesday, June 6, 2012 and supplied by the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation, shows the metal plaque from a large dock that washed ashore early Tuesday on Agate Beach, a mile north of Newport, Ore. The nearly 70-foot-long dock was torn loose from a fishing port in northern Japan by last year’s tsunami and drifted across thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean, a Japanese Consulate official said Wednesday.(AP Photo/Oregon Parks and Recreation)
In this Thursday, June 7, 2012 photo proivded by the Oregon Park and Recreations Department, unidentified workers shovel debris from the top of a dock float torn loose from a Japanese fishing port by the 2011 tsunami that washed up Tuesday on Agate Beach near Newport, Ore. Workers with shovels, rakes and other tools first scraped the structure clean, then briefly used low-pressure torches to sterilize the dock that was. (AP Photo/Oregon Parks and Recreation Department)
The surf pounds against the massive dock that washed ashore on Agate Beach Wednesday, June 6, 2012, in Newport, Ore. A nearly 70-foot-long dock that floated ashore on an Oregon beach was torn loose from a fishing port in northern Japan by last year’s tsunami and drifted across thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean, a Japanese Consulate official said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
In this Thursday, June 7, 2012 photo proivded by the Oregon Park and Recreations Department, an unidentified worker burns off debris from of a dock float torn loose from a Japanese fishing port by the 2011 tsunami that washed up Tuesday on Agate Beach near Newport, Ore. Workers with shovels, rakes and other tools first scraped the structure clean, then briefly used low-pressure torches to sterilize the dock. (AP Photo/Oregon Parks and Recreation Department)
Raw Video: Coast Guard Sinks Ghost Ship

The U.S. Coast Guard used cannon fire to sink an empty Japanese ship in the Gulf of Alaska. The “ghost ship” drifted across the Pacific after last year’s tsunami. (April 6)