A long-abandoned, oil-soaked warship has finally been removed from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. The HMCS Chaleur, a 140-foot wooden minesweeper once used by the Royal Canadian Navy, had become a major environmental hazard after sinking into Little Potato Slough near Stockton.
The vessel, abandoned for years and leaking oil, was lifted in a complex cleanup operation led by the U.S. Coast Guard and funded by the Oil Pollution Liability Trust Fund. Officials say the ship posed a serious risk to water quality, wildlife, and navigation.
This marks the final major extraction in a multi-year effort to rid California’s waterways of derelict and dangerous vessels.
