[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS, NATURAL RESOURCES: Vieques (PR) underwater UXO

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Undersea bombs threaten marine life


By Azadeh Ansari
CNN
February 26, 2009

(CNN) -- Beyond the golden beaches and beneath the blue waters of the 
Puerto Rican island of Vieques is a site that resembles more of a 
munitions graveyard than a Caribbean paradise.

Hundreds of corroding and unexploded bombs litter the sea floor, leaking 
toxins and taking a toll on nearby marine life. The munitions were left 
by the U.S. Navy, which had a training site on Vieques for six decades.

"We know that these munitions are leaking cancer-causing materials and 
endangering sea life," said marine ecologist James Porter, associate 
dean of the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia, who 
recently completed a research trip to Vieques.

Responding to a request by the governor's office of Puerto Rico, Porter 
tested the island's waters for the presence of radioactive material 
surrounding the sunken USS Killen, a World War II-era destroyer used as 
target practice for Navy missiles.


....

For the entire story, see
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/02/26/undersea.munitions.cleanup/index.html#cnnSTCText

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org




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