After World War II the US government dumped millions of kilograms of
unexploded bombs into the Gulf of Mexico. This is no secret; many
governments dumped their unexploded ordnance into oceans and lakes from
1946 up until the 1970s when it was made illegal under international
treaty.
Now that technology has advanced enough for oil companies to drill deep sea wells in the Gulf of Mexico, those forgotten payloads have become a real hazard.
The US designated certain areas around its coast for the safe dumping of explosives, nerve gas, and mustard gas. The problem is that the records of where these munitions were dumped are incomplete, and many experts believe that a lot of cargo was dumped outside of the designated areas. Now, decades later, no one has any idea of where the bombs are, exactly how many were dumped, or if they still pose a threat to humans or marine life.
William Bryant, a Texas A&M University professor of oceanography, summarised the situation by saying that the “bombs are a threat today and no one knows how to deal with the situation. If chemical agents are leaking from some of them, that's a real problem. If many of them are still capable of exploding, that's another big problem.”
Read more: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Thousands-of-Bombs-Dumped-in-Gulf-of-Mexico-Pose-Huge-Threat-to-Oil-Rigs.html
Now that technology has advanced enough for oil companies to drill deep sea wells in the Gulf of Mexico, those forgotten payloads have become a real hazard.
The US designated certain areas around its coast for the safe dumping of explosives, nerve gas, and mustard gas. The problem is that the records of where these munitions were dumped are incomplete, and many experts believe that a lot of cargo was dumped outside of the designated areas. Now, decades later, no one has any idea of where the bombs are, exactly how many were dumped, or if they still pose a threat to humans or marine life.
William Bryant, a Texas A&M University professor of oceanography, summarised the situation by saying that the “bombs are a threat today and no one knows how to deal with the situation. If chemical agents are leaking from some of them, that's a real problem. If many of them are still capable of exploding, that's another big problem.”
Read more: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Thousands-of-Bombs-Dumped-in-Gulf-of-Mexico-Pose-Huge-Threat-to-Oil-Rigs.html
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