Old Subway Cars No Longer To Be Used For NJ Reefs

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- It's the end of the line for converting New York City's old stainless steel subways into artificial reefs off the New Jersey coast.

The Garden State has ended the program because officials say the cars are deteriorating too quickly.

The program originally called for dumping up to 600 subway cars into the ocean. About 100 were submerged before the program was suspended in February.

Environmental Protection Department spokeswoman Darlene Yuhas says a survey of 48 cars placed on the Atlantic City Reef found only two had remained intact.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had estimated the cars would serve as a reef for up to 30 years.

No other problems have been found with a different type of subway car. The so-called "Redbird" was made of steel instead of stainless steel.