University of Hawai’i researchers have concluded a three year research project to determine whether chemical munitions dumped at sea off O’ahu pose a threat to the health of humans or the environment.
Documents disclosed by the Army in 2007 reported that approximately 16,000 munitions containing 2,558 tons of chemical agents were dumped at three deep-water sites off Oahu. The chemical agent included lewisite, mustard, cyanogen chloride and cyanide.
According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser article:
The School of Ocean Earth Science and Technology research for the U.S. Army reported that even the best-preserved munitions casings are deteriorating, but the observations and data collected “do not indicate any adverse impacts on ecological health” in the study area, known as HI-05, the university said.
Furthermore, the article reports:
The Pentagon does not plan to remove any of the chemical weapons because it said there is no data to indicate any of the dumped munitions pose a threat to human health or the environment.
The conclusion that there is no adverse impact on ecological health is misleading. Most of the 2000 munitions identified by UH researchers were badly corroded but had not yet broken open to release their toxic contents.
The story on KHNL television was more qualified in reporting the safety of the munitions:
Findings show the World War II munitions buried at sea are still intact, but they are corroding, which means one day, they could leak chemicals into the ocean.
The Hawaii Independent provides more in-depth reporting on the study’s findings.
But the news media failed to mention the hidden story related to the funding for the research. In 2007, politicians were quick to jump on the issue of the chemical munitions dumping because it was politically safe to criticize such an egregious example of the military’s poor environmental conduct while steering federal funding to Hawai’i to “study” the impacts. Funding was funneled through the Indefinite Deliverable / Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Applied Research Laboratory contract, otherwise known as the controversial Navy University Affiliated Research Center (UARC). In 2005, a coalition of students, faculty and community staged a campaign to stop the establishment of the classified Navy research center at the University of Hawai’i, which culminated in a week-long occupation of UH President David McClain’s office. Despite overwhelming opposition, the UH Board of Regents approved the UARC, but the program had been severely diminished.
The Applied Research Laboratory has set up a contract vehicle, a pipeline for non-competed military contracts to be directed to UH research projects. The UH researchers are now set up to seek future funding to study, but not necessarily clean up the toxic mess.
Leave a Reply