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Underwater Ticking Bomb?

July 30, 2007 1:17 PM

Alexandra Bahou Reports:

Underwatertick_mn The oceans may have become ticking time bombs after years of U.S. military dumping have gone almost virtually unregulated, according to government documents. 

Legislation on the books for this fiscal year requires that the secretary of defense issue a yearly report naming the location and quantity of the dumped military munitions in U.S. waters. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 also mandates sampling and water analysis be done around the disposal sites selected by the secretary. The size of the dump sites as well as the types and quantities of military munitions should also be identified.

"The U.S. Army and DoD (Department of Defense) are working deliberately with other federal agencies to verify locations and dates of military sea disposal operations," an Army spokesperson said of the upcoming report to Congress.

But the problem isn't new. From World War I to the early 1970s, the United States Army has admitted to dumping an estimated 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into U.S. waters alone, according to military documents.

"You can think these munitions are glorified metal containers, but they are corroding and rusting out over time," said Cal Baier-Anderson, a health scientist with Environmental Defense. "When they're (munitions) on the shoreline, they can be unstable. You don't know what's in them."

The weapon disposal sites range from the New Jersey coastline, where the first dumping of the "Cut Holes And Sink 'Em" operation placed 4,577 one-ton containers of mustard agent and 7,380 rockets of nerve gas into the ocean, to the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan, according to U.S. Army Research.

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"The real issues have to do with corrosion and how long the containers remain intact," said Lenny Siegel, the executive director of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight. "It's more the older chemicals that are going to be the problem, such as lewisite, which tends to be persistent in the environment."

Countless amounts of chemical weaponry have been dumped and sometimes sank encased in large, sealed vessels, according to documents issued by the U.S. Army Historical Research and Response Team.

During one disposal event alone in 1946, 191,906 cans of imitation mustard agent were dumped into the Pacific Ocean. Another disposal event in 1955 accounted for one or two barges of "unspecified" toxic munitions into the Gulf of Mexico as stated by the Off-Shore Disposal of Chemical Agents and Weapons Conducted report by the United States in 2001.

"The depth and size of designated sea disposal sites makes locating individual munitions or containers particularly challenging," said an Army spokesperson. "Another complicating factor is that these sites were also often used by others for disposal of materials ranging from garbage to industrial waste."

There is also a worry that these ordnances will be fished up or collected unexpectedly, as in the case of the Delaware driveway incident, where Army munitions were inside clamshells which were dredged up and used to pave many driveways in the state.

"I think, from a human standpoint, one of the worst things that can happen is if this affects a fishery," said Craig McClain, a postdoctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. "Fisheries used to be primarily confined, but now they are moving into deeper water. It begs the question as to the economic impact to these things too. If it [chemical dumping] affected a fishery, then the whole area could become a dead zone."

Despite growing concerns, some environmentalists say nothing is getting done in terms of inspection or clean-up along coastlines known to have once been used for military weapon disposal.

Bob Schoelkopf, the founding director of the Marine Mammal Standing Center in New Jersey, says he was shrugged off by an Army representative after asking the military to take a look at the Atlantic City coastline. 

"We thought it would be a good idea to get shorelines inspected," said Schoelkopf. "No one ever said they would look into it...our mission isn't to watchdog the government. We brought up the concerns, now it's up to someone else to carry the ball."

Carrying the ball may not be that easy, according to some environmental officials. Experts say trying to determine where the munitions have drifted over the years is a complicated task.

"Even if you can pinpoint where they were dumped, the shifting sand and water current moves stuff around," said Baier-Anderson. "It's a tough situation."

According to a spokesperson for the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense has been engaged in a "comprehensive research effort" for the past 20 months to try to assess the impact of sea disposed munitions and the potential consequences of the weapons on the ocean environment. The Army and Department of Defense are working with other federal agencies to provide an update on disposal site locations, according to the U.S. Army spokesperson.

But even if the munitions are located, some environmentalists say the recovery process can be extremely dangerous and not even worth the risk.

"The question always comes up that if there is no release of the munitions, is it worth the risk to pull it up and treat it," said Siegel. "The answer isn't clear. We don't want to risk exposing people to ordnances unless there is a fairly present risk of danger." 

The question of whether or not to pull up these sunken canisters continues to baffle and concern environmentalists, politicians, government officials and the general public.

"With the initial breach of these canisters, the local impact on the biological communities will be quite high," said McClain. "Do I think something should be done? Yes. Do I know what should be done about it? No." 

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July 30, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (18)

User Comments

Here is a tip: Tack is something to ride in upon when you wish to straddle a high horse.
Someone needs an editor that knows how to spell "intact."

"The real issues have to do with corrosion and how long the containers remain in tack,"

Posted by: Bambi | Jul 30, 2007 3:04:41 PM

I agree, yo Alexandra, can I have your job? I know how to write...anyway, yeah, the military, among other entities, has left our environment in tatters...

Posted by: Jazz | Jul 30, 2007 5:01:24 PM

I am constantly amazed at the horrifying things that our government does! More and more I am beginning to believe that we are dooming ourselves to extinction. After reading this story, I am once again ashamed to be an American. Will people ever quit doing things simply for money?

Posted by: Jason | Jul 30, 2007 6:33:46 PM

Put a patch on the tank stick a big syringe inside suck out as much as possible and then move the tank.

Posted by: asdf | Jul 30, 2007 7:02:35 PM

Oh that's nice! Have you any idea the amount of radiation poisoning in the ocean from oceanic atomic bomb blasts? Our beloved JF Kennedy had 36 atomic bombs blown up over the Kiribati Islands. The people who live there today live in obscure poverty, unlike Japan who got 2 of the Jiffy Lubers, and is the 2 nd largest economy in the world. How many atomic blasts has the US done? 1,120 Atmospheric, to have radiation blown across the globe, Oceananic to contaminiate the fish, destroy coral reefs, and hurt the population when we know the Ocean contains more minerals than any base of water known to man. And Underground.to contaminate our fresh water aquifers, and water tables. This military minions are insane. They are killing to live, and save society? They are simply committing suicide for us all. Now 1,120 by the US does not count the number done by all the other Nuke Power countries. The grand total of nukes detonated on the earth including the USA is 2,150 and this includes N. Korea's little stunt! OK smart guy leaders, especially Iran how about this? How about working together to stop this madness. Fricking Moronic GW Bush. You all know what GW stands for: Global Warming....the end times.

Posted by: djermano | Jul 30, 2007 8:16:35 PM

The amount of dumping is a minute amount compared to the toxics released into the oceans by thermal vents in deepest parts of the oceans. Also, if all the world wars and sunken military equipment (with full compliments of fuel oil and munitions have not caused a significant problem, then why should some biological materials that would decay to harmless materials over the years. Remember mustard gas did not remain toxic forever and look how many people survived exposure to it. I hope the barrels and tanks deteriorate so the materials can be released and diluted by the oceans.

Posted by: Sierra_Angler | Jul 31, 2007 10:28:40 AM

Good arguments on either side...I do know that in the Navy, for example, ships out at sea would dump their garbage overboard, leaving miles-long trails of garbage out over the ocean surface. Plastics, paints, metals, etc.

BUT, perhaps even if you total the sum damage of this type of pollution, along with thermo-nuke and chemical weapons pollution, it pales in comparison to what we do the global environment as a consumer culture...

Posted by: Jazz | Jul 31, 2007 10:51:38 AM

I am with you, Jason. But I am not amazed.....I am sickened.

Posted by: silent2long | Jul 31, 2007 2:54:46 PM

Why complain? We all voted for it, fought for it, profited from it. The prophicies proclaim we will self distruct simply because we are human. None of you are any different. Selfishness is why we all get out of bed. Selfishness is why we consume. Selfishness is why we can forget the day and sleep the night only to repeat our own history. If we as a people want to change our government, the only civil choice (disobedience) we have is to collectively not pay our taxes. Then our government has only two choices. 1) Listen to us. 2) Kill us. Do we have the courage?

Posted by: apostelatesamongus | Aug 2, 2007 2:31:27 AM

I think all of you are anti-American hipcritic wussies. As far as being ashamed to be American, you are are a shame. You all are living in the most prosperous, healthiest, wealthiest, generous nation ever to be visitied upon this glorious planet. All of you global warming dupes are so caught up in emotion that you ignore the real hard science by folks with objective data. Truth is when ever man attempts maniplulate a cure or fix for a problem it gets worse. Yes we have commited a terrible act by dumping, at this ponit trying recover these degradable substances by disturbing the slow release of time would be catastophic in a large dose. Leave them alone and allow the earth to reclaim these chemicals at her own pace. Then lets be smart enough to never do it again. The doom and gloomers are are sort of correct, someday we will be gone but it will be because it is the way of evolution. Nothing is forever and we will be shaken from the tree when the natural forces make it so. Let it go and allow God to manage where you cannot.

Posted by: zoofish | Aug 2, 2007 9:36:09 AM

This is a hit piece. Let's start with the misleading picture. The picture should have a caption, but doesn't because the canisters shown are not owned by the DOD. Secondly, the "munitions" in question are bullets and shells. That is why they are impossible to track and are small enough to found in a clam shell. In order for this "ticking time bomb" to explode a person would have to load it into a corresponding rifle or howitzer and pull the trigger. Lastly, the US has not dumped sophisticated chemical or biological systems since the 1970's. The chemicals in question are in fact known and are extremely stable, the chemicals under your household sink are far more reactive and dangerous. My advice to the author is to do more homework.

Posted by: Jared | Aug 2, 2007 12:46:45 PM

Hey Jared, thse munitions are NOT bullets... they're bombs which are slowly corroding. And are you really claiming that the chemicals under my sink are more dangerous than mustard gas and nerve gas? My suggestion is that YOU go do some more homework and think before you type.

Posted by: Rusty Shackleford | Aug 2, 2007 4:58:15 PM

Congress banned the practice of offshore munitions disposal in 1970. However, significant quantities of chemical and conventional munitions were dumped offshore near the US and abroad prior to 1970.

While most ocean disposal operations took place in deep water, usually in international waters and typically over 600 feet deep, there is no complete inventory of all disposal sites/locations for all military munitions and materiel disposed of at sea.

Due to storms and tidal action some of these disposal sites are or have become accessible to the public and chemical/conventional munitions are being brought into shallow water and/or washed onshore.

Posted by: Ed Burke | Aug 5, 2007 3:02:14 AM

Hey Rusty, you ought to learn to think before you type, you may learn to use proper English and spelling, and you might even learn something other then "the sky is falling" and it's all (take your pick, George Bush's, the military's, The United States's)fault. Are you aware of what mixing bleach and ammonia generates? A compound quite similar to mustard gas. These munitions are bombs and artillary shells which contain degradable compounds which will in time breakdown to their basic components. While not a desirable situation, it's not as catastrophic as the enviromental wacko's would have one believe. Stop thinking with your heart and start using your brain, and then maybe we can start making some real progress in this world.

Posted by: Doc | Aug 5, 2007 12:31:14 PM

"The amount of dumping is a minute amount compared to the toxics released into the oceans by thermal vents in deepest parts of the oceans."

The thermal vents don't release mustard gas.

Posted by: djconklin | Aug 7, 2007 12:39:17 PM

As a boy, I was impressed with the respect and appreciation the American Indians had of their environment. Then...the white man came and killed all the buffalo, all the bear, left gaping holes in the Earth from mining gold...no respect for Mother Earth! And that saga continues.

Posted by: Gerald | Aug 8, 2007 4:14:51 PM

Sorry I couldn't copy/paste this , I'm on a Mac & haven't figured that part out yet.

After reading thru all this, its hard to figure out who's side our Army & Navy are on. Not to mention the civilian moron's that allow this to happen.

Posted by: DMcD | Aug 14, 2007 2:40:30 AM

At LEAST parasites don't kill the Mother host!

Posted by: Nomadamongus | Sep 18, 2007 11:26:51 AM

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