Tsunami debris off coast may be Japanese barge

Published 7:18 pm Tuesday, July 24, 2012

WESTPORT — Officials are monitoring a large piece of possible tsunami debris about 25 miles off Washington’s coast near Westport.

Grays Harbor County Emergency Management Deputy Director Chuck Wallace told KBKW that it appears to be a barge, about 25 by16 feet, that could have been torn away by the March 2011 tsunami in Japan.

He said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been tracking the debris move along the coast for about a week. Officials don’t when or where it might wash ashore.