Japanese Tsunami Debris Found In Alaska

A half dozen large buoys suspected to be from Japanese oyster farms have appeared at the top of Alaska's panhandle and may be among the first debris from Japan's devastating tsunami last year.
Robert Johnson, a photographer in Yakutat, said at least six barrel-shape buoys 3 feet in diameter and 4 feet long have shown up on beaches in the last two weeks. Hard plastic football-shape buoys also are showing up, he said.
He had seen a dozen of the floats in his 30 years in the community and he's confident they're tsunami debris.
"It's not coincidence," he said.
As more debris shows up, there's little need to be worried that it will be contaminated by radiation, state health and environmental officials said Friday.
They have been working with federal counterparts to gauge the danger of debris, including material affected by a damaged nuclear power plant, to see if Alaska residents, seafood or wild game could be affected.
"From what we found from the data that is available, the answer is no," said Kristin Ryan, environmental health director for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
"There is no concern to us that there's any radiation impacts in Alaska, to our environment, that we should be worried about at this time."