Subways thrown in ocean…. Crazy – you say? Let’s see. The NYC Transit company dumped approximately 19 tons of metal into the ocean. This was part of a new recycling-project to create a new reef and a habitat for fish. The reason why this happened was the fact, that at this part of the Atlantic ocean there is only sand on the ground. That is why corals cannot build reefs which are very important for all kind of living creatures in the water. That way humans created the Redbird-Reef in the US. An environmental crime? Nope. The program created habitats for marine life from Georgia to Jersey and gave New York’s aging subway cars a sort of retirement home. New York photographer Stephen Mallon has captured the MTA’s artificial reef program in the collection above. Prints from “Next Stop Atlantic” are for sale on his website.
Then Delaware also started a similar project. They also dump their old subway cars into the sea to create a reef.Experts said some years ago, that they are not sure whether this is good or not, because of different substances which are in it. In a German newspaper they explained, that there will be no problem in the next 30 years … well, but what will happen after that? Are they going to take all the subway cars out of the water when many different species are living there?
Now, after some years they agreed, that it was a good idea, because there are more and more fish in this area. This is good for the nature and the local economy. To read more about the project in NY and Delaware click here.
Because the program was such a success in the US, Thailand decided to do the same. But it seems that they have not enough subway trains for this… Their new “reef-building” material is old tanks…
It is interesting to see, that there is such a difference between everyday life waste that is dumped into the water and the rubbish that is allowed to put on the ground .. both is full of chemicals, like asbestos. These chemical substances are not allowed in different parts of the world because it is dangerous to health. But every single person has to decide on his/her own whether they like the project or not, but for sure it would be better to think about putting big stones into the sea to create a reef, than to continue dumping other trains etc. into the ocean.
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