There are two recovery efforts in Baltimore Harbor: the urgent one below the destroyed Francis Scott Key Bridge and the methodical “pay-and-chase” one unfolding in Congress and, eventually, in courtrooms around the world.
Although progress is being made in clearing 50,000 tons of bridge debris from a massive containership pinned 30 feet deep into riverbed mud since March 26, compensating American taxpayers footing the bill—at least $1.2 billion, likely more than $2 billion—could take decades.
