By Karen Hensel
24-Hour News 8

The US Army is confirming for the first time that it purposefully dumped chemical weapons into the ocean.

I-Team 8 first exposed concerns about the Army and Indiana's weapon of mass destruction two years ago in a series of reports, Project Security.

Now the Army says it dumped millions of pounds of nerve agent, chemical-filled bombs and radioactive waste at sea.

The destruction of VX nerve agent in Indiana is suspended after another spill at the VX destruction plant at Newport, with 500 gallons of wastewater leaked over the weekend.

But the US Army faces deeper criticism now after reports it disposed of the same nerve agent by the ton into the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, sometimes within sight of land.

The dumping happened after World War Two and into the 1970's. The Army is only just now confirming it.

According to the Virginia Daily News, the Army dumped overseas stockpiles off the coasts of 16 countries. The chemicals in the ocean could pose hazards for generations. The chemical weapons may be slowly leaking from years of saltwater corrosion. The Army can't say where all the weapons were dumped. Records are missing or destroyed.

Congressman Rob Andrews of New Jersey opposes the dumping of the VX waste byproduct from Indiana into the Delaware River. Now, in a letter to the secretary of the Army, he is demanding to know exactly where chemical weapons were dumped at sea.

"In light of publicized human injuries and the threat posed to the public by these submerged weapons, what measures has the army employed to ensure the public's safety?" wrote Andrews.

According to a Virginia newspaper, just last year a shell filled with mustard agent was dredged by a clam boat near Atlantic City. Three bomb-disposal technicians at Dover Air Force base were injured handling the shell.

VX is so deadly that a tiny drop of it can kill. The sea-dumped chemicals may slowly leak over the next 100 years.

Congressman Andrews’ office says he may call for congressional hearings.