The SS United States Preservation Foundation has filed a last-ditch request for a temporary restraining order to stop Okaloosa County from sinking the ship and turning it into the world’s largest artificial reef.
Okaloosa County officially announced plans to sink the ship on November 12, 2026, roughly 20 miles off the coast of Destin, Florida. The foundation, led by Steven Perry, filed suit on November 3.
This is the latest in the battle between the foundation, which represents people who want to sink the ship for historical and environmental reasons, and the County, which purchased and has worked to use the ship to entice high-end scuba diving tourists to the area. The group cites the existence of hexavalent chromium, which the County has attempted to mitigate through remediation, as well as other chemicals harmful to the environment on board the ship. The lawsuit asserts that, because they cannot definitely prove every scrap of toxic chemical has been scraped from the ship, the Corps of Engineers cannot and should not allow its sinking.
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The project has already exceeded its original $10 million budget, but county leaders point to funds raised from other entities that cover the excess costs.
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What the lawsuit says
In a 131-page suit, the SS United States Preservation Foundation asserts Okaloosa County is violating the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, a nd various federal rules and regulations extending from those two laws. It says the ship has significant historic value, and Okaloosa County’s plan to sink it would destroy that value.
Furthermore, the suit alleges, Okaloosa County began to demolish the ship before they were cleared to do so, as they needed a bunch of sign-offs to destroy a vessel that could be considered a piece of American history.
The Foundation points to the numerous requests for environmental review from the United States Army Corps of Engineers that were stiff-armed as a key reason for the suit.
“For nearly a year, the Foundation pursued its concerns through the federal review process, submitting laboratory findings and expert materials accepted into the administrative record and repeatedly seeking substantive consideration of that evidence. The Foundation also sought to address those findings with Okaloosa County through direct communications and public meetings. Those efforts left the concerns underlying this action unresolved.”
In their prayer for relief, the part of the suit where they outline what they’d like the Court of the Northern District of Florida to do, they ask for the planned sinking to be stopped, to nullify the Corps of Engineers’ decisions to approve the County’s memorandum of agreement, and their Finding of No Significant Impact for sinking the vessel. They’ve also asked that the Corps, the County, and other defendants be enjoined from doing anything with the ship until they’ve “fully complied with the NEPA and the NHPA.”
The suit says the County plans to tow the SS United States to the sinking location on November 9, 2026.
We’ve reached out to Okaloosa County for comment on the lawsuit and will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
