Disposal of chemical weapons in oceans.

[Jara sang]

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33432.pdf

"The U.S. Armed Forces disposed of chemical weapons in the ocean
from World War I through 1970," the Congressional Research Service
recalled in a valuable new report.

"At that time, it was thought that the vastness of ocean waters
would absorb chemical agents that may leak from these weapons.
However, public concerns about human health and environmental
risks, and the economic effects of potential damage to marine
resources, led to a statutory prohibition on the disposal of
chemical weapons in the ocean in 1972."

"For many years, there was little attention to weapons that had been
dumped offshore prior to this prohibition. However, the U.S. Army
completed a report in 2001 indicating that the past disposal of
chemical weapons in the ocean had been more common and widespread
geographically than previously acknowledged."

"The Army cataloged 74 instances of disposal through 1970, including
32 instances off U.S. shores and 42 instances off foreign shores.
The disclosure of these records has renewed public concern about
lingering risks from chemical weapons still in the ocean today."

[lonestarnot]

1. Yikety damn yikes. Indonesia's tsunami?

[Jara sang]

2. Good point. I've been on the beach in Virginia after a Nor' Easter.

And there are chunks of 18th & 19th century ships that sank off shore that would wash ashore during these great storms. Would be bad if a SARIN rocket washed ashore in Virginia Beach during the height of the summer season.

[lonestarnot]

3. Yes bad.

[acmejack]

5. Ft Monroe, Jara!

Check it out, lots of nasties been dumped right there. Mostly ordinary explosives, some chemicals though...

[Jara sang]

7. Check out any NOAA chart for any large coastal city.

There are whole areas marked off as "Disposal Area" and "Submerged Ordinance"

[TahitiNut]

4. Ignorance is bliss.

Deliberate ignorance is apparently addictive. From the burial (and leakage) of toxic radioactive waste to dumping chemicals in the ocean, people are deluded in (not) thinking that if they don't see it then its no problem. The opposite, of course, is the truth. We can only be certain when we can easily and reliably verify that these monstrous toxins aren't murdering our planet. When we put them where we can't see them and monitor them, we're committing suicide.

Pharaceuticals, chemical weapons waste, biological weapons waste, nuclear weapons waste, industrial waste - creating substances more toxic than nature ever went crazy enough to do herself.

Worst of all is doing only the part of the research and development to learn how to create this shit - without finishing the job and learning how to destroy it safely. There really is no such thing as "disposal" - only the delusion of keeping it away from "me". (NIMBY insanity.)

[5X]

6. Two words: Bermuda Triangle.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Imagine the state of the oceans after

the ice sheets melt and they swallow up a lot of civilization