[CPEO-MEF] Report on chemical weapons dumps off Hawaii

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[The following article identifies, to my knowledge, the first major 
SHALLOW offshore chemical weapons dump site. While it's arguable whether 
to do anything at the many deep ocean sites, I anticipate a recovery and 
disposal requirement at Wai'anae. - LS]

Weapons in ocean still mystery

By Jan TenBruggencate
Honolulu Advertiser
February 2, 2006
					
The Army still has not determined the location of most of the more than 
8,000 tons of chemical munitions dumped off O'ahu at the end of World 
War II, but says that if their containers fail, most of the chemicals 
would break down into nontoxic compounds.
				
The exception, according to an Army report released yesterday, is the 
blister agent lewisite, which could leave elevated levels of arsenic in 
seafloor sediment and in ocean water.
						
U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, a member of the House Armed 
Services Committee, and U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, a member of 
the Senate Armed Services Committee, are writing legislation that would 
call for a complete underwater survey of dumping sites, and for research 
into their long-term threats to public and environmental health and the 
possibility and cost of cleaning them up.

...
		
					
"In 2002, the Army surveyed an area near the Wai'anae sewage outfall — 
referred to locally as Ordnance Reef — and identified over 2,000 
military munitions at depths ranging from 15 to 240 feet, with the 
majority of munitions observed at depths below 60 feet," the report said.

For the entire article, see
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Feb/02/ln/FP602020335.html
				
--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org


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