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Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University researchers found these 55-gallon drums at a known chemical weapons dumpsite near the mouth of the Mississippi River. They suspect mustard gas was leaking out.
Oil and bombs don’t mix, yet there’s millions of pounds of unexploded World War II munitions dumped in the Gulf of Mexico that pose a risk to offshore drilling and the environment, researchers say.
The military carried out the dumping from 1946 to 1970 — including off the Pacific, Atlantic and Hawaii coasts — so it's no secret. But now that some of the containers used to store the munitions are more than 60 years old, the researchers say it's time to see them as a threat.
"The bottom line is that these bombs are a threat today and no one knows how to deal with the situation," Texas A&M oceanographer William Bryant said in a statement ahead of a briefing he'll give at a weapons disposal conference. "If chemical agents are leaking from some of them, that’s a real problem. If many of them are still capable of exploding, that’s another big problem."
Photos taken during surveys show that some of the chemical weapons canisters, such as those that carried mustard gas, appear to be leaking materials and are damaged, Bryant and others on his team reported.
The surveys have turned up 10 dump sites at 60 and 100 miles out — and one of them had a pipeline running through it.
Texas has the closest dump, followed by Louisiana, "not far from where the Mississippi River delta area is," Bryant said. "Some shrimpers have recovered bombs and drums of mustard gas in their fishing nets.
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University researchers found this unexploded, 500-pound bomb at a dumpsite near the mouth of the Mississippi River in 2008.
"No one seems to know where all of them are and what condition they are in today," he added. "The best guess is that at least 31 million pounds of bombs were dumped, but that could be a very conservative estimate.
"These were all kinds of bombs, from land mines to the standard military bombs, also several types of chemical weapons," he said. "Our military also dumped bombs offshore that they got from Nazi Germany right after World War II.
"Is there an environmental risk? We don’t know, and that in itself is reason to worry," he said.
The hazards pose even more of a risk as the Obama administration and energy companies pick up the pace of drilling after the 2010 BP oil spill.
Ironically, unexploded ordnance was found in the offshore zone known as Mississippi Canyon where the BP well was drilled.
Pentagon
This chart lists some of the munitions dumpsites in the Gulf of Mexico, and what's there.
"My first thought when I saw the news reports of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf two years ago were, 'Oh my gosh, I wonder if some of the bombs down there are to blame'," recalled Bryant.
That turned out not to be the case, but such World War II finds are not surprising in the oil industry.
Last year, BP shut a major North Sea pipeline for five days to remove a 13-foot unexploded German mine. BP discovered the mine during an inspection, then spent months devising a plan to remove and safely detonate it.
Pentagon
This chart lists some of the munitions dump sites in the Gulf of Mexico, and what is there.
In 2001, BP and Shell found the wreckage of the U-166, a German WWII submarine, 45 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River.
While the practice of dumping bombs and chemical weapons in the ocean ended 40 years ago, some effects are just now being seen, Terrance Long, founder of the International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions, told Reuters. Bryant will be briefing the group's conference, which begins Monday in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
"You can find munitions in basically every ocean around the world, every major sea, lake and river," Long said. "They are a threat to human health and the environment."
Reuters contributed to this report.
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The military and MIC had it's hey-day between 46 and 72, the so-called Cold War when the Gov't tills were wide open for the weapons makers with no questions asked. 1600 nuclear tests in NV and NM along with dumping bombs, chemical weapons and radioactive scraps wherever was convenient. Not even enough sense to take it all way out past the continental shelf, as was done with WWI mustard gas canisters. The people who ordered this are dead, many of the personnel involved are likewise, and the paperwork was made public. Oh gee, all the paperwork was stored in a warehouse that mysteriously burnt down -- or flooded-out or was demolished -- the first time the matter was brought to light. Look, look what the MIC done done now... See what happens when a gov't steps aside and lets war profiteers take control...
Yeah, and you ain't speaking Russian, are you, bub? Look, did lots of people profiteer off of the Cold War (which in reality didn't end until 1989, despite "detente")? Sure, but if you think that the Soviets were not a real, credible threat, I suggest you discuss that with a Czech, Pole, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, Hungarian, or former East German.
I have done this type of recovery when I was in the Military. All they need to do is basically take a larger container like a open bucket. You use a submersible and clamp them into the buckets. Close the bucket and bring them up to the just below the surface. Then seal the outer container and then bring them up the rest of the way. Then put them into a third outer container. Then you can transport them with out problems. Simple.
If they are so concerned about it now , they should do what you said and clean it up ASAP .
All of that is based on the best case scenario and may not work consistently in the real world. It should only be done when and where it has to be done. In the past our military has vastly overestimated their ability to mitigate things and underestimated the costs.
"The military carried out the dumping from 1946 to 1970..."
"WHO DEALT THIS MESS?" (S. Clay Wilson)
What about the nuclear waste dumped off the Farallon Islands west of San Francisco? The lost nuclear bomb is somewhere near Spain... somewhere. Those were the days when we thought the world was big, and the oceans could absorb anything and everything. Out of sight, out of mind. Hopelessly misguided. We better clean this mess up. We have the technology now. While we're at it, we had better shut down the nuclear power industry for good.
It wouldn't suprise me if this was done intentionally, knowing that it would be impossible for terrorists to get a nuclear weapon into this country, perhaps some devil worshiping group like the Bilderbergs, and the members of the Bohemian Grove, perhaps in the early days they were accounting for this problem, and let a few sink to help get rid of 6 billion people, hence making the Georgia Guidestone notations a reality. I wouldn't put it past them. We not only have enemies in Afghanistan, and Iran, but also right here in the US Government, hiding their memberships to satanic organizations, such as the Bohemian Grove. I never discount anything for lack of proof, but discount things only after I'm convinced otherwise, that's there's nothing that needs proof.
Bet anything that you believe that human-caused global warming is a proven fact, also. Well, how are all of those coal-fired power plants that were foisted on us by all of you anti-nuke types, unwittingly to be sure but it's still mostly your fault, working out for you now, pal?
Really disgusting.Animals won't poop in their beds, yet humans live and breath in their own filth.
A real cheap way of getting rid of the problem Out of sight,out of mind. It is going to be real costly two bring them up and out. I would probably say they would survive the journey in their condition do to the pressure differential. I will bet there is at least one Republican out there who will blame all of this on President Obama.
No, but it did start under Truman and end under every leftist's favorite bogeyman, Richard M. Nixon.
Let me know when they find Catsup Gas that stuff can leave a nasty stain on a shirt. P.S. there are lots of lost NUKES out there. Best way to find them is by following the flash.
Don't forget about the ship loaded with biological weapons that Nixon sunk in deepest part of the Pacific back in the 1970's. If those things ever leak the ocean will be dead and we won't be far behind. Sealed in a stainless steel drum, surrounded by concrete inside another stainless steel drum, as I remember. Given enough time the ocean will dissolve everything.
Doom on you,doom on you,doom on you.
Well, my post about Nixon sinking a ship loaded with biological weapons in the Pacific back in 1972 just got censored.
no it's there....
Of course, we should attack Nixon for wanting to do away with biological weapons, but I'm certain that if President Obama were suddenly to advocate for their use you would find them suddenly to be acceptable, in much the same way that the CPUSA suddenly found Hitler and Nazism to be acceptable when Stalin signed a pact with Hitler to divide and conquer Poland in 1939.
Now that everyone has gotten on the band wagon let me throw another thought out there.
Everyone always plays down the threat of Terrorist getting hold of a Nuclear Bomb or Chemical weapons. With all the millions of tons of munitions they are quoting in this article as being out there in the open, unguarded. Do you really think there isn't some terrorist organization out there that is not thinking about how nice it would be to have some of that in their possession even with the danger that is posed in its recovery?
Nuclear weapons are a lot harder to get a hold of but easier to actually make, at least the "Dirty Bomb" version. Chemical weapons take a lot more refinement to be of any real use or threat. With these unguarded dump sights 75% of the work has already been done for them. back when these were dumped diving and recovery equipment was limited for the depths those munitions are at. Now days you can just about buy or rent it off the shelf and diving classes are cheap.
Making it up alive withany recoverable amount of anything would be doubtful unless one had the resorses to do it large scale as in the military EOD.. So if terrorist had these capabilities they wouldn't need to recover scrapped weaponry, they could build from scratch....
What's ironic about all this, is how smart those military genius' are, to think that they can just flush all that garbage into the ocean, and hope the problem solves itself, but God forbid we as civilians should throw OUR garbage overboard, then we'd have the coast guard all over us, and be fined a lot of money. Surely they are aware that the problem isn't going to disappear, but their thoughts were as all politicians think, "Let's let the next couple of generations solve this problem, I'm only open to solutions for solving these problems for OUR generation!" I think that's the over all concensus that was taken back then.
If a terror group actually had the resources to make it capable of pulling off something like the recovery of some of this stuff for its purposes, it would have the resources to do something far more effective instead in all likelihood.
these bombs should have been detonated or properly disposed of them recycled !!!!!
What's done is done. The human race will be extinct shortly in geological time anyway. Humans are only a short term experiment that went bad.
It is dumbfounding how we as a people can be so shortsighted.
When you create a civilized society, called a government, and place agencies in charge of certain tasks, we open ourselves to the problems that arise from this. Greed, corruption, power, abuse, and the worst one of all, is that overwhelming since of PRIDE and EGO, that places these agencies on a higher ground than those they are put here to protect and serve. I think that pride and ego is the main problem in our country, which gives them the impression they can do anything and everything they wish, without being held accountable by the general public. It's going to get a lot worse I'm afraid.
Well....As a life-long atheist I must
say the last three news articles that I've read today...capped off by
this one....has lead me to the acceptance of the existence of god.
Something greater than us must be looking out for us....on our own
I'm not sure that the average human is smart enough to remember to
breath.
Obama's fault!
I can't stand Obama, but I'm not ready to throw the blame for THIS in his direction. This is not Gulf War ordinance. If you read the article, they are referring to World War II surplus, which means it was out of Obama's hands, because he wasn't President back then, but someone is accountable, and we will all have to pay the price for what's being down to this planet in the name of securing all of our freedoms from the tyrants that arise that would threaten such peace.
A sense of irony isn't your strong suit, eh, Harold?
Why the heck were they even allowed to dump this stuff in the oceans?
surely they had to know that metal barrels submerged in sea water would eventually start leaking sooner rather than later.
if we continue to use the worlds oceans as giant toilets and garbage dumps we are all going to be in a lot of trouble.
Keep in mind we are talking about the Military Engine, they are here to protect and serve, in theory, but by all means, they are not held accountable for anything they do, by a bunch of, what they like to call, stupid civies, who obviously know nothing of the sacrifices they make on OUR behalf.
Yeah, who tells the United States Government what they are allowed to do, particularly after having just won the biggest war of all time?
Another Nail In The Coffin,
Add the dilemma of all of this planetwide underwater ordinance to the five million other problems that the world and humanity have on their doorstep and the picture is certainly not very pretty. Besides all of the conventional explosives, what are the long-term implications for the hundreds of thousands of tons of Mustard Gas, Sarin, Zyklon and other biologically poisonous agents when significant amounts begin leaching into the oceans? Human folly and indifference has literally poisoned every inch of our planet ... and it's not a very encouraging portent of things to come.
Peace to all ~
"Texas has the closest dump, followed by Louisiana, "
Slight correction in the opening "Texas IS the closest dump, followed closely by Louisiana and all other Red States".
They need containers they can sink to the ocean floor, fill with the munitions, then haul back up and dispose of the contents.
This is a great ideal if you have no intention of hauling them back up to dispose of them, as long as we can make everyone else think otherwise.
I was just putting mustard on my sandwich while I read this. Coincidence? I dont think so.
Wow the government is really stooping down to the lowest levels in keeping the U.S. drowned in fear. Now they are using photo shop to place bogus bombs in the Gulf. The only bomb that has gone off in the Gulf was the BP off shore horizon or whatever it was called. A disaster that would have been deemed an act of war if it had been conducted by any other country other than Brittain.
They are not our friends at all. http://youtu.be/RgcdRCWEt4Q
They are worried about Terrists & other countries destroying the world. All they have to do is both the sea shores, say bye to the us & other countries.
Some posts indicate that "at the time it wasn't against the law", must we as human beings wait for a law to be created to indicate whether something is right or wrong? These people knew it was wrong to begin with, which is why it was done in utmost secrecy, away from the eyes of the people who actually care about this planet we live on. The military spends a great deal of time, money, and resources, in developing these weapons, and we rely on them to dedicate as much effort in cleaning up THEIR messes, when such weaponry is no longer required. Dumping them in the ocean, is not the solution. The ocean's of the world are not any government's personal toilet bowl to do with as they see fit. Those oceans belong to you, and I, as well, but mostly belong to the fish and sea life that must dwell within those waters. It's time that governments become more responsible, and stop doing things, based on the fact that there is no laws to stop them from doing it.
The concern should mostly be with the dumped chemical weapons. How much of this is leaking into our drinking water? If it is possible for any of these chemicals to evaporate into rain or snow, how much of these chemicals are we eating? It is pretty sad that the military didn't have enough brains and foresight while dumping these weapons.
God, the arrogance of man never fails to astound me. Or the lack of foresight. Did no one ever think this wasn't going to be a problem? Or was it just some more amoral American know-how allowing one generation to pass the buck to another? Yee-haw.