Problem at the bottom of the Baltic

In the case of chemical weapons, 2 main landfills are known in the Gotland Deep (2 000 t chemical ammunition) and Bornholmska (38,000 t). In addition, about 150 000 t of combat poisons (BST) were sunk in cargo hold transport ships in Skagerrak (a strait between Denmark, Sweden and Norway). This full arsenal dates back to planet War II, erstwhile despite the prohibitions under the Hague and Geneva Conventions, chemical weapons were produced by both Axis and Allied states. But it was not utilized mainly due to the threat of retaliation. The only case where chemical weapons were contaminated at that time was the consequence of a carpet raid conducted by Luftwaffe in December 1943 on the Italian port of Bari. 1 of the moored transport ships was filled with Iperite missiles. As prof. Bełdowski said, the Americans had specified an arsenal in case of retaliation, but they did not inform anyone. The demolition of the cargo led to many burns to the lungs, among others. The doctors did not know how to aid the victims due to the fact that the Americans did not uncover the fact about transport until a fewer days later.

Postwar Cleanup

IO PAN scientist said the first deliberate sinking of chemical weapons occurred in 1945 and did so to Kriegsmarine. In Danish waters (Little Belt) The Germans sank 1,000 tons of mortar shells filled with dangerous combat gas – a taboo to prevent them from getting into enemy hands. Subsequent sinkings took place after the war as a consequence of the post-Pomadam conference, which said, among others, about the demilitarization of Germany. In practice, this meant the acquisition or demolition of German arsenals by the Allied. The leaders of the “great three” disposed of their part of the “inherited” chemical weapons, sinking it in 1947 mainly in the Bay of Biscay (Americans), in the Skagerrak Strait (British), in the Bornholm and Gotland depths (Russians). In 1954, the GDR made insignificant sinkings in the Gulf of Gdańsk.

Professor Bełdowski emphasized that chemical weapons at the bottom of seas and oceans are a global problem that affects almost all water in the world. At the same time, nobody has conducted any integrated investigation on this issue for decades. Bełdowski mentioned top-secret investigation in U.S. sanctuaries, but "in Europe this problem was not discussed". It was not until 1991 that the Baltic Sea Environmental Protection Commission (the Helsinki Commission) set up a peculiar group that dealt with the problem and presented its first study in 1995. However, the next step was to wait until 2004, erstwhile the MERCW programme was launched (Modeling environmental threats associated with chemical weapons sunk in the sea). Another caesura is 2010 and the launch of global programmes (EU, NATO) coordinated by a Polish scientist from the IO PAS.

Environmental hazard

There is no request to be a specialist to conclude that chemical and conventional ammunition retention at the bottom of the sea has a negative impact on the environment. However, questions as to how large a threat they pose and whether they can lead to environmental disasters stay unanswered. Scientists, especially politicians, argued Bełdowski, divided into 2 main camps. any believe that at any point there will be fast corrosion (60–120 years after the sinking), which will lead to mass contamination of waters and the Baltic will become dead. Others believe that corrosion is slow, dependent on many factors, so that the position quo can be maintained in the long term. Water contamination will occur, but to a tiny degree and far from the shores and fisheries. Bełdowski gave an example of Danish research, which spoke about the corrosion of ammunition only after 500 years. But there were besides those who thought that already in 2000 the full Baltic would be dead.

– Often, in conversations with journalists, questions arise about how much time we have and whether there will be a disaster. And we do not know – the prof. of the Polish Academy of Sciences admitted. Everything is about a deficiency of backing and a coherent global policy that would let researchers to observe the same facilities over the years. “The institutions that deal with specified monitoring do not do so throughout the Baltic”, said Prof. Bełdowski. In Poland substances indicating contamination of water with chemical weapons have been included on the list of environmental studies, but they are not carried out at sites where ammunition are sunk.

At the initiative of Polish scientists, 1 of the bombs from the time of the Second Dawn War was cut into plates, which were then placed in the flood areas for 2 years. Corrosion was then analysed and the mean distribution was calculated. Conclusion: the loads in barrels (the rarest case) had already spread in the 1990s. Air bombs will undergo full corrosion between 2020 and 2030, and artillery missiles will lie at the bottom of the Baltic until 2100.

Other studies afraid the decomposition of the iperit. At 1 time scientists assumed that this combat poison contained in ammunition as a consequence of decay would take the form of harmless compounds. prof. Bełdowski reported that in fact the substance has spread to 50 different compounds, which are even more toxic than the iperite. Analysis of biomarkers, i.e. the impact of compounds on the condition and wellness of fish, has clearly shown that animals from the areas of chemical weapons flooding have much more parasites, and they endure harm to DNA, which in effect reduce the reproduction (lethal mutations) of a given species. The simulation conducted by researchers determined that bottom fish (sow) and marine mammals specified as seals and porpoises are the most at risk.

The ammunition sunk in the Baltic besides has a negative impact on people. In Poland, in the 1950s, there was a situation erstwhile the waves threw out e.g. barrels with iperit. In Darłówk, in 1955, children who were at the sea on the colonies played on the beach. Effect – 110 burned, 2 children lost their sight. prof. Bełdowski told that the incidental was rapidly swept under the carpet so that the public would not know anything. But for the following months, the beaches were closed, the servants were gunning the full area, sprinkled lime, etc.

Chemical weapons sunk in the sea. Map pochodzi z serwisu Middlebury Institute of global Studies James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS)– nonproliferation.org.

There are cases where fishermen find traces of sunk ammunition in nets. Sometimes all bombs, but besides clay-like fragments. Another threat is inflammatory ammunition with white phosphorus, which resembles amber. “Every year on the island of Uznam or in the Bay of Riga tourists find lumps of amber and hide in their pockets. The temperature of phosphorus ignition is 20 degrees Celsius, so after drying there are serious burns, due to the fact that phosphorus burns at temperatures above 1000 degrees Celsius – said the scientist from the IO PAS.

The future of ammunition at the bottom of the Baltic Sea

Prof. Jacek Bełdowski presently deals with the MUNIMAP programme, which consists of creating a "road map for remediation of chemical and conventional ammunition sunk in the Baltic". This is simply a multi-stage initiative which first analyses the government in the countries concerned. It then identifies: methods of searching for sunk ammunition, environmental hazard assessment, and methods and techniques of remediation (reduction of the amount of substances threatening the environment or simplification of the spread of these substances – red) environmentally friendly.

The Polish scientist pointed out that now only Germany came out with a valuable initiative, which cost EUR 100 million and is intended to consequence in the improvement of a strategy of safe extraction and demolition of ammunition outside the aquatic environment. However, Germany has fallen on its own legislation, noted the professor, as according to the regulations, the extraction of sunk ammunition can only happen at the sharp hazard of human life. On the another hand, barely anyone has the right technology to destruct chemical ammunition from the seabed. Bełdowski mentioned a facility in German Munster, which, however, mainly deals with land munitions from the time of planet War I and has a agenda filled with orders for respective years to come.

The extraction of chemical ammunition has 1 more legal problem. While conventional ammunition in the past was usually discharged under water (not without serious harm to the environment), specified chemical weapons are not drawn out due to the fact that under the law it ceases to be environmental waste. Extracted ammunition is, as it were, “becomes” for the return of chemical weapons, the possession of which is prohibited by global convention. The State would so gotta declare that it is in possession of prohibited measures and subject to a lengthy control process with the commissional demolition of the arsenal. No wonder that no country is in a hurry to solve the “forgotten problem” at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, although costs – not only environmental ones – increase with each year. Bełdowski mentioned that remediation of 1000 pieces of ammunition was a cost of 500 1000 euros. And if the black script for 2100 is fulfilled, then the fight against the effects of the sinking of ammunition in the Baltic will cost €2.5 billion per year.

The problem of remediation of chemical ammunition does not concern Poland at present, due to the fact that although it is known that specified a weapon was sunk on the depths of Gdańsk, it was inactive not found. Bełdowski besides mentioned 2 objects allegedly found on the Słupska Ławica, which may be a serious problem in the construction of offshore wind farms. If any studies confirm that chemical weapons are located in the area of the resulting infrastructure, the developer will gotta face immense costs and delays.