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Hidden pile of dumped bombs
By ROBERTA MANCUSO
05apr04

MORE than the estimated 1000 bombs dumped as part of a chemical weapons stash in Townsville waters could exist, a report has revealed.

A Federal Government paper says a hidden arsenal of deadly weapons less than 200km northeast of the city was likely to be greater than originally thought given inconclusive information.

At least 700, 30kg mustard-charged bombs were dumped in one location about 200km from Townsville, and 320, 45kg mustard-charged bombs were dumped in waters as close as 160km away during the disposal of chemical warfare agents at the end of WWII.

However the size of Townsville's chemical weapon stockpile could be even more significant, with the report admitting the information is incomplete -- partly because of the lack of records kept at the time of dumping operations and incomplete cataloguing of old archives.

Inventories show one Townsville chemical weapon depot held nearly 16,000 M47A2 mustard gas bombs alone. The paper admits it was "very unlikely" those stocks were transported to other major dumping sites around Queensland, but it gives no indication to where the remaining munitions rest.

None of the chemical weapons were used during combat.

Member for Mundingburra Lindy Nelson-Carr two weeks ago criticised the Federal Government for a lack of "satisfactory answers" about the full extent of bombs and chemical weapons dumped in Townsville waters after World War II.

She said a comprehensive record of all locations and the full range of explosives had not been made public, if a complete list was even known.

The report, by the Department of Defence, said at least 21,030 tonnes of chemical warfare munitions were dumped into Australian seas at the end of WWII by the United States Army and Australian defence forces.

Weapons included aircraft bombs of various weights charged with phosgene and mustard gas, aircraft spray installations charged with mustard gas and steel drums of various capacities charged with mustard gas.

Dumping areas where a depth of 500 fathoms (914 metres) were available included sites 160km from Townsville and 190km from Bowen.

An inventory from 1943 shows US weapons reserves in depots in Charters Towers and Kangaroo, about 50km north of Townsville, included bulk mustard, tear gas, lewisite and solid adamsite candles (toxic smoke).

They included a combined artillery of about 40,000 types of one mustard gas bomb and hundreds of tonnes of deadly gas in bulk.

While bombs lay unexploded just off Townsville, the report said the risk to the general public was "virtually nil".

The risk of trawlers encountering chemical weapons was said to be low, with only two cylinders snared since the war.

Retrieval posed an unnecessary risk, the paper said.