To me this was absolutely the worst and dirtiest job I've heard of, or done. While I was in the Coast Guard, our ships waste holding tank begun to leak from one of the welds. It became necessary to pump the tank dry once we reached port, and prepare to do the repair. The only way into the tank was a 28" x 18" access hatch. (Keep in mind that "ALL" the waste from the ship ends up here, I think you get my drift.) Once we removed the hatch cover we were in for a real surprise. The walls were covered with a 3"-5" thick layer of human waste that was as hard as red bricks. The stench was unbearable. The decision was made to completely clean the tank to bare metal, before attempting the weld repair, and because I was the new engineer aboard, guess who got the job. Yes, me and another shipmate. First we had to shovel the remainder of the waste out, keep in mind that it's about 110 deg in the tank, and you cannot have any ventilation for obviously reasons. Even with safety gear and respirators, you couldn't get away from the smell. Daily showers of 3 or more times could not rid us of the stench completely. Once we shoveled all we could, we were left with air chisels to remove the crusty brick like human waste from the walls. This whole procedure took the two of us three 9 hour work days to complete. Air chiseling, shoveling, and repeat this process over and over. We did complete the job, and as a reward for a job well done, we were given an extra day off to recuperate. To this day I will never forget that job, or the loss of appetite, after that first corn kernel we spotted.
What people fail to realize is the military at the time I was in, and may still be, is exempt from OSHA standards and environmental standards also. It was common practice for the CO to order the tanks pumped over-board if we were full before we reached port, and since this was in Cleveland harbor, no wonder it caught fire years ago, and was one of the dirties harbors in the US. This too was after the USCG passed the law that all pleasure craft over “x” feet was required to have a holding tank, and became illegal to pump raw sewerage overboard. I always thought it was a double standard. But that's another story.. Thanks for the lemon juice.
