Underwater Bombs Affect the Sealife

In the waters off of Vieques, an island in Puerto Rico, scientists have done experiments to conclude hundreds of bombs are covering the seafloor, and polluting toxins and affecting the marine life. These bombs were left from the U.S. Navy who had been training there for 6 decades. "We know that these munitions are leaking cancer-causing materials and endangering sea life" said marine ecologist James Porter.

When he did research on the ocean creatures, he found sea urchins, dust worms and coral near the bomb debris that contained carcinogenic materials. "in some cases 100,000 times more than what is considered safe for commercially edible seafood." The Navy spent $350 million to attempt to clean up the waste but only cleaned close to the shoreline. One of the reasons it has been so hard to clean up the bombs is because there is no way to know exactly where the bombs were released. They have also been corroded by the saltwater over the many years. "Toxic elements such as TNT, mustard gas and the chemical weapon Lewisite also can be hard to detect in large bodies of water."

James Barton invented a device that can pick up unexploded bombs from the seafloor and brings them in a basket to the surface. His idea is called the Ordinance Removal System.

Hopefully with new technology and new ideas we will be able to clean up these waters.



Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/02/26/undersea.munitions.cleanup/index.html