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Scientists and federal officials have held a series of meetings on how to deal with the estimated 5 million to 25 million tons of potentially disastrous debris from the Japanese tsunami headed for the shores of Hawaii and the West Coast. But they’ve been unable to come up with a cleanup plan and no money appears to have been made available for the problem.

The lack of attention to a situation that is expected to pollute shorelines and could threaten marine life and delicate reefs is disturbing, says the Honolulu scientist who has been monitoring the debris.

“This is an emergency situation, and the problem is that we don’t have emergency funds,” said , the lead researcher at the University of Hawaii who has been the debris.

Maximenko says that federal agencies failed to monitor the massive amount of debris that was sucked out into the ocean. Satellite photographs taken within two weeks of the tsunami showed pictures of the debris being carried by currents out to sea, but after that “nothing happened,” he said. “At least they should have been trying to figure out whether it’s important or not.”

The devastating March tsunami left more than 21,000 dead or injured, and washed everything from homes, cars, furniture and household appliances out to sea.

UH researchers now believe it’s a dispersed patch, 2,000 miles long and 1,000 miles wide. How much of it will decompose or sink before hitting shorelines is unknown.

Several weeks ago, the Russian ship STS Pallada sailed into the debris. Its crew found a boat, plastic containers, a refrigerator and television set, reigniting national attention on the issue.

The discovery also signaled to the UH scientists that the debris could end up on Hawaii’s shores earlier than they thought – as soon as next year residents could begin seeing lighter items, such as plastics, before heavier items begin washing up in 2013.

Federal and state officials are just now trying to get a better grasp on the problem.

“For a while, everyone was sitting and hoping that it would just disappear,” said Maximenko.

Recent meetings have included Maximenko, officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Interior, and state officials in Hawaii and on the West Coast.

“In terms of planning to address the cleanup, we’re in the early stages of talking about what might need to be done to protect the reef system and coastline,” said Michael Montgomery, an official in the EPA’s San Francisco office.

He said the debris isn’t currently an “accelerated problem,” and, while significant, not something they were actively responding to.

Landfall Sooner Than Expected

In Hawaii, the debris will likely make landfall on the same beaches that have been hit by trash on its way to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – a swirling mass of plastic garbage, hundreds of miles wide, between Hawaii and California. The tsunami debris will also end up in the Garbage Patch in about five years, said Jan Hafner, an atmospheric scientist who is Maximenko’s assistant.

Kamilo Beach on the Big Island is already covered in trash, including mounds of plastics, computer monitors, fishing gear and barrels, as Civil Beat documented in a previous story.

on Oahu, often touted as one of Hawaii’s most beautiful, is speckled with tiny shards of plastic, all colors of the rainbow, and depending on currents and onshore winds, swimmers can find themselves surrounded as it floats through the bright turquoise water.

Environmental Hazards

Fish, seabirds and other marine species have been found to ingest the plastics, which can lead to malnourishment as it remains in their stomaches, giving a false sense of fullness. Plastic toxins can also make their way through the food chain.

Anna-Marie Cook, an EPA marine debris coordinator, said that the tsunami debris sheds light on the larger problem of trash entering the oceans, 80 percent of which comes from land.

“It’s hard to imagine it wouldn’t get worse if we don’t get a handle on it,” she said. “The problems that we see will just get bigger.”

Marine life also intertwines with floating debris, complicating cleanup efforts, as its removal can disrupt the ecosystems that have made the trash their home.

The plastics in the tsunami debris will pose the same threats as the rest of the plastics that have made their way into the oceans since the compound’s genesis in the 1950s and 1960s, though the tsunami debris poses additional risks.

Large mammals can get caught in fishing nets and die, said Hafner, and as the debris approaches shorelines, it could damage reefs.

Cleanup Efforts Tough

To get a better sense of the debris location, Hafner is urging ships sighting the debris to email him. NOAA also has a set up for logging reports. Commercial ships, tankers, military vessels and fishing boats cross the waters annually.

If researchers can get a better grasp on the location of the debris, there are technologies that could be deployed to help.

Hawaii’s U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Walnut is a 225-foot buoy tender that has been used to remove ocean debris from the northwest Hawaiian islands. A large net sweeps up an object, which is lifted out of the ocean by a crane.

Gene Maestas, a spokesman for the Coast Guard, said that the Coast Guard hasn’t received any requests from NOAA to try to use the Walnut for the tsunami debris, and he wasn’t sure how close to shore the debris would need to be before it was deployed.

While, federal and state agencies are debating how to address the issue, Maximenko hopes to take action. He’s trying to line up $4,000 to ship 11 buoys from San Diego to Hawaii. He hopes to send a ship out to find the debris and deploy the buoys, with attached satellites, to monitor it.

So far, federal agencies have been unresponsive to his requests for the funding, he said.

Tsunami footage shows masses of wreckage caught in waves. Japanese government officials estimated that 5 million to 25 million tons of debris was swept out to sea.

Tsunami debris could add to trash that already spans Kamilo Beach on the Big Island, known as the dirtiest beach in Hawaii.

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DISCUSSION: Should government officials step up efforts to clean up the debris?