BY JOHN M.R. BULL
May 11, 2006
The military would have to conduct an in-depth study
of the potential harm caused by chemical weapons the Army dumped off the
country's coastlines decades ago under a bill moving through Congress.
The House voted Wednesday to require a full epidemiological study to determine
whether people have been harmed, or could be harmed, by leaking mustard and
nerve gas dumped over the span of 50 years.
The amendment to the annual defense spending bill was sparked by a Daily
Press investigation that revealed that the Army dumped at least 64 million
pounds of chemical weapons - including bombs and rockets - in dozens of dumpsites
that virtually circle the country. The amendment was introduced by U.S. Rep.
Rob Andrews, a New Jersey Democrat.
At least eight mustard gas artillery shells, dating back to World War I,
were dredged up off the coast of New Jersey during the past two years. The
shells injured three bomb-disposal technicians, and there is evidence of
arsenic contamination on the sea floor where they were found.
"It's very important," Andrews said. "There's arsenic 10 miles off the coast
of my state. That's as important as it gets."
Arsenic, an especially potent poison, is a component in some of the dumped
chemical weapons. It can accumulate in fish and shellfish, posing a risk
to people who eat them.
Several of the dumpsites are off the Eastern Shore in Virginia.
No one objected to Andrews' amendment on the House floor, he said.
The must-pass defense-appropriations bill, with its amendments, is to go
to a full House vote today then on to the Senate for final passage.
"I'm counting on Senator Warner to keep it in the appropriations bill,"
Andrews said.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
and his voice is usually heeded in the Senate on military issues.
"Senator Warner supports the department conducting a full study of all
aspects of offshore munitions dumping, to include location of ordnance, risk
to persons and property and possible health effects of munitions dumping over
time," said Warner spokesman John Ullyot.
There is no doubt that chemical weapons remain on the ocean floor at sites
up and down the East Coast.
Andrews wants to know whether they have leaked or are leaking and what dangers
they pose to mariners, people who live on the coast, marine life and the
economically important seafood industry. "The question is, 'Has it hurt anybody?'
" he said. "I hope this study shows no harm was done."
Mustard gas, nerve gas and Lewisite - an arsenic-based chemical akin to
mustard gas - were the most commonly dumped chemical weapons.
The Army is nearing the end of an extensive records search to determine whether
other chemical weapon dumpsites exist and where they might be located. A
report to Congress on the search is expected this summer.
So far, no additional dumpsites have been discovered, but records are sketchy,
vague or missing, and the Pentagon fears that World War I-era dumpsites never
will be located in surviving records.
From World War I until 1970, Army policy was to dump surplus or damaged chemical
weapons into the ocean at varying depths and distances from the shoreline.
The thinking at the time was that the ocean was vast and would absorb the
deadly chemicals when they eventually leaked.
According to a March 3 "information paper" the Army released to Congress,
the earliest dumpsites were in what now is considered to be shallow water.
In 1944, the War Department - which became the Department of Defense - required
chemical weapons to be dumped in at least 300 feet of water and at least
10 miles from shore, according to the information paper.
Scallopers now routinely dredge in water that deep. Ten miles is within
sight of the coast.
In 1945, dumpsites were required to be in at least 600 feet of water. As
the years went by, the Army gradually went farther from shore to dump their
deadly loads. The last dump, in 1970, was in extremely deep water, 6,000
feet.
Mustard gas is extremely hazardous and can survive up to five years in seawater,
rolling around in gel form on the ocean floor. So if the shells, which corrode
at different rates, began leaking today, the threat would persist for another
five years.
The information paper revealed new information on the impact of the nerve
gas VX in seawater. It might remain dangerous, floating around with the prevailing
current, for up to three years, the Army reported.
VX is so deadly that one drop can kill a person within a minute.
