SEATTLE -- Puget Sound is in need of a major cleanup, and it's going to take an Army to get the job done.

The U.S. Army dive team is tackling the task, targeting the area off the shore of Salt Water State Park in Des Moines where at least a thousand tires were sunk back in the 70s.

The tires were to serve as artificial reefs. It was also a cheap way to get rid of them.

"Things that we made mistakes of putting in the water," said Ginny Broadhurst with Northwest Straits. "Thought it was a good idea. Surely isn't a good idea anymore."

Now those reefs, which were placed to improve fish habitat, are considered harmful.

"Toxins get into invertebrate life. And then other creatures eat the invertebrates and then it just starts working itself up the food chain," said Mike Racine with Washington Scuba Alliance.

In an attempt to avoid the time time-consuming task of pulling the tires up one by one, the divers are tying a bunch with cable. Then the cable is attached to a huge bag filled with air, which allows the tires to float to the surface.

The cleanup is a collaborative effort between private, state and federal groups, but it's not costing the state a dime; the federal government is footing the bill. And it so happens the Army divers needed some underwater training anyway.

Everyone agrees removing the tires is a positive step, but only the first step.

"It's not going to solve the pollution problems of Puget Sound. There are much bigger problems. But (this is) something we can do, positive, easy, uncontroversial and sort of like an easy thing to do," said Greg Bargmann with the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The cleanup is, in a way, practice for the bigger challenges ahead, including controlling storm water runoff and balancing growth and development.

The divers will be on cleanup duty in the Sound for five weeks. The tires will be shredded and taken to a landfill.