FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- About two to three miles from Fort Lauderdale beach, army divers working from a ship are in the process of bringing up about 2 million tires that have been at the bottom of the ocean since the early 1970s.

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In the 1970s, an unidentified agency decided to build an artificial reef system and dumped tires in the ocean to fill a 34-acre area.

Now. with the help of the U.S. army and the navy, the state of Florida and Broward County are removing the 35-year-old tires.

The military divers work on the project between April and June, before the hurricane season gets started.

Bringing up the more than 2 million tires is a job that's going to take a long time.

Some estimate it will take 17 years.

This year alone, it will cost around $7 million.