Why are aircraft carriers worth only $0.01 for scrap?

Question

I read in the news that after decommissioning its aircraft carriers, the US Navy sells them to a scrapping company in exchange for $0.01.

How does something that cost over $5 billion to build and contains over 50,000 tons of steel get reduced in value to a mere single cent?

In: 9559

Answer 1

I read the older carriers were basically asbestos disasters. Like some old ocean liners the cost to remove the maz mat would be greater than any profit from scrap metal.