GARBAGE: Build the wall

I have an idea to build President Trump’s wall and clean up the ocean’s garbage. It is estimated the Pacific garbage gyre is 8 trillion tons, the size of Texas and growing. The U.S. Navy has a fleet of mothballed LSTs in the San Francisco Bay Area. The LST’s (Landing Ship Tank) duty is to transport tanks, trucks and equipment and deliver its cargo onto shore. The bow of an LST rotates down to make an access ramp for loading and unloading its cargo.

LSTs are seagoing shallow draft vessels. The LSTs could be modified with baling equipment to gather the garbage, compress it into balls and transport the product to Southern California, Imperial Beach, Mexican border for off-loading and further transport along the border for wall construction. Countries around the world that contribute to the gyre garbage could help pay for the clean-up. The plastic wall would be very colorful and last forever.

TED DOHERR

Coeur d’Alene