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Posted: November 4, 2005 05:28 PM


'Buried at Sea' -- An insider's look

Gina Mangieri

We have an insider's diary that reveals more weapons were dumped than previously thought.

Not only that, another first-hand witness tells us disposal took place elsewhere years after the military said it stopped.

There may be more chemical weapons dumped in more locations than listed in an Army catalog of munition waste.

An official in the chemical warfare depot kept a daily log of dumping operations that took place off the Waianae coast in October and November 1945.

His list shows 20 more tons of hydrogen cyanide and cyanogen chloride than the Army officially says was dumped. And that's just over two days of a 13-day operation.

And the dumping was on pace to unload thousands more mustard bombs than the Army recorded.

That's just Waianae.

What was being dumped offshore of Pearl Harbor two years after the Army says it stopped?

"Bombs, artillery shells and containers," says 1947 dumping witness.

Five days a week in 1947, an Army tug and barge left Iroquois Point -- often stacked nine feet high with weapons. A few hours later the captain gave the signal.

"He would stop, blow the whistle, then the barge crew would unload the cargo," says the witness.

The trip wasn't far -- about five miles offshore west of the harbor.

"We were back in time to knock off at four o'clock."

But where is that dump site, and does it contain chemical weapons?

"I think that the government has the obligation to do something about it, and see if it's affecting the population," says Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

The Army's data says nothing of the 1947 dumping.

"I guess I never gave it a thought that it would affect the population later on. I don't think that anyone knew that much about it, other than the people responsible," says Mayor Hannemann.

One leader is calling for answers.

"This could be major in terms of the long-lasting impact to our community," says Mayor Hannemann. "I'm certainly not going to sit and wait for direction. We'll try to schedule a meeting -- probably as early as next week."

We'll keep you posted on the status of that meeting as soon as we know more next week. The Army in Washington, meanwhile, says it's interested in these new accounts. 'Buried at Sea' continues Monday with more witness stories.