State parks face huge expense removing tsunami debris

(June 15, 2012) -- The first of it has begun to show up. In Oregon, the huge Japanese dock that washed ashore at Agate Beach State Recreation Area near Newport needs to go. Already, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff, paid contractors and volunteers have removed about a ton and a half of plant and animal material. By some estimates, the area of the debris field is twice the size of Texas, some of which may be radioactive from exposure to the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear facility.