JUNEAU, Alaska — A barge carrying thousands of bags of marine debris that washed up on Alaska shores, some presumably from the 2011 tsunami in Japan, has arrived in Seattle, where recyclable material will be sorted out.
Janna Stewart, with Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conservation, says the barge arrived Thursday.
Stewart says the logistically difficult, weeks-long debris-removal effort went rather smoothly.
The barge arrived in Kodiak on July 15, and made its way down the coastline, stopping to pick up debris loaded by helicopter from rocky beaches.
The last stop in Alaska was at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. A stop also was made in British Columbia.
The effort is being funded partly with $900,000 from Alaska’s share of a $5 million gift from the Japanese government for states affected by tsunami debris.
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