An Introduction To The Political And Technical Challenges Posed By Sea Dumped Chemical And Conventional Weapons

Potential environmental and human health effects resulting from the dumping of World War I and World War II-era conventional and chemical weapons in the Baltic Sea are of continuing concern. It is not possible to identify, and safely recover or otherwise 'remediate' all of the munitions that have been dumped. Some munitions will continue to be uncovered inadvertently. Therefore, procedures for the identification and reporting of recovered munitions should be maintained and, where possible, strengthened. Estimating an overall cost for the recovery and remediation of all dumped munitions is problematic. A standard operating procedure for the disposal of such weapons is to detonate individual munitions that are judged to pose a clear and present threat. Techniques for locating and handling munitions at varying depths and databases of geographic, environmental and other information continue to be developed. The paper recommends that any policy approach to the recovery and remediation of dumped munitions should be reasoned and balanced. Any decision to recover or remediate dumped munitions should be informed by technical and scientific requirements, and any policy process should be guided by these principles. Further efforts should be carried out to achieve common understanding on risk (quantitative and qualitative) and the implementation of appropriate risk management strategies.

Following the two world wars of the twentieth century, governments decided to dispose of unwanted chemical weapons in the world's oceans. The deleterious consequences of this decision for the earth's precious marine environment are now becoming clear. As the issue of sea-dumped chemical weapons cannot be contained by borders, we will all have to deal with the adverse effects on our fragile planetary ecosystem. While states have made some efforts to address the situation, unresolved international legal issues remain. International Law and Sea-Dumped Chemical Weapons contains a systematic conceptual analysis of the international legal frameworks governing the remediation of sea-dumped chemical weapons. Where deficiencies are found in the law, legal solutions are offered. In addition, practical approaches to the problem are explored. Furthermore, the book argues that solutions to this environmental hazard rely on a holistic awareness-and acceptance-of how humanity's past actions have damaged our ecosystem. Aiming to bring about the necessary will to overcome this challenge, this volume identifies and analyses the problem, offers guidance, and provides hope to the current and succeeding generations so that we can solve the problem of sea-dumped chemical weapons and restore balance to our ecosystem.

This volume summarises the materials presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Sea-Dumped Chemical Munitions, held in Kaliningrad (Moscow Region), Russia, in January 1995. The conference was sponsored by the NATO Division of Scientific and Environmental Affairs in the framework of its outreach programme to develop co-operation between NATO member countries and the Cooperation Partner countries in the area of disarmament technologies. The problem of the ecological threat posed by chemical weapons (CW) dumped in the seas after the Second World War deserves considerable international attention: the amount of these weapons, many of them having been captured from the German Army, is assessed at more than three times as much as the total chemical arsenals reported by the United States and Russia. They were disposed of in the shallow depths of North European seas - areas of active fishing - in close proximity to densely populated coastlines, with no consideration of the long-term consequences. The highly toxic material have time and again showed up, for instance when retrieved occasionally in the fishing nets, attracting local media coverage only. Nevertheless, this issue has not yet been given adequate and comprehensive scientific analysis, the sea-disposed munitions are not covered by either the Chemical Weapons Convention or other arms control treaties. In fact, the problem has been neglected for a long time on the international level. Only recently were official data made available by the countries which admitted conducting dumping operations.

In October 1993, eighteen experts from ten countries met in Munster, Germany to discuss various aspects of the problem of old chemical munitions and toxic armaments wastes. This comprehensive study discusses the characteristics of chemical warfare agents and toxic armament wastes, past chemical weapons production activities, chemical weapons disposal and destruction, sea dumping of chemical weapons, and legal issues related to old chemical munitions and toxic armament wastes.

Baltic Sea *Although leaked chemical warfare (CW) gases rapidly hydrolyse in sea water, potential risks of serious contamination will exist for many decades for sailors, fishermen and coastal visitors of the Baltic Sea, in particular concerning contact with lumps of mustard gas. *Since 72% of the CW agents is contained in aircraft bombs, which are already in various stages of corrosion and 63% of all CW agents is S-mustard gas, the loss by lumps of mustard, spread over the seabed in the neighbourhood of dump sites, represents the greatest danger. *There remain sites at risk outside the Allied Forces dump sites, since during the disposal procedures before 1948, ammunition was thrown overboard between the discharge ports of Wolfgast and Peenemunde and the dump sites east of Bornholm and south of Gotland. *Blue prints of emergency plans should be available in order to confine, bury or destroy ammunition at risk. Skagerak *Most dumped CW ammunition is contained in deliberately sunken vessels. *Implosion of the chemical weapon's cargo in these vessels, due to its own weight, may increase loss of CW agents, in particular from corroded aircraft bombs. *Several wrecked ships have been located outside the dump site as indicated on the nautical charts. *Steps should be taken to sarcophage the wrecked ships in order to avoid an eventual contamination of the eastern North Sea and coastal waters of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. General *Although the Helsinki Commission, through its ad hoc Working Group HELCOM CHEMU has correctly evaluated the present risks of the dumped CW ammunition, it is obvious that the authorities of the Baltic States and Norway should be prepared to act jointly in emergency situations.

The Army's ability to meet public and congressional demands to destroy expeditiously all of the U.S. declared chemical weapons would be enhanced by the selection and acquisition of appropriate explosive destruction technologies (EDTs) to augment the main technologies to be used to destroy the chemical weapons currently at the Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) in Kentucky and the Pueblo Chemical Depot (PCD) in Colorado. The Army is considering four EDTs for the destruction of chemical weapons: three from private sector vendors, and a fourth, Army-developed explosive destruction system (EDS). This book updates earlier evaluations of these technologies, as well as any other viable detonation technologies, based on several considerations including process maturity, process efficacy, process throughput, process safety, public and regulatory acceptability, and secondary waste issues, among others. It also provides detailed information on each of the requirements at BGAD and PCD and rates each of the existing suitable EDTs plus the Army's EDS with respect to how well it satisfies these requirements.

In the aftermath of 9/11, the potential terror of weapons of mass destruction--from nuclear, biological, and chemical to dirty bombs--preoccupies national security experts. In Chemical Warfare, Frederic J. Brown, presents a cogent, innovative framework for understanding the historical forces that have restrained the use of WMD and how they continue to have relevance today. Analyzing both world wars, he argues that the restraints on use were complex and often unpredictable and ranged from the political to the technological. The author offers a detailed examination of American chemical warfare policy as it was shaped by industry and public sentiment, as well as national and military leaders. The organization of the book into three parts reflects the importance of battlefield experiences during the First World War and of international political restraints as they evolved during the interwar years and culminated in "no first use" policies by major powers in World War II. Part I examines the use of chemical weapons in World War I as it influenced subsequent national policy decisions. Part II focuses on the evolution of political, military, economic, and psychological restraints from 1919 to 1939. Part III discusses World War II during two critical periods: 1939 to early 1942, when the environment of the war was being established largely without American influence; and during 1945, when the United States faced no credible threat of retaliation to deter its strategic and battlefield use of chemical weapons. Written at the height of controversy about the U.S. use of chemicals in Vietnam, Chemical Warfare offers a valuable historical perspective, as relevant now in its analysis of chemical and also nuclear policy as it was when first published.

Between 1946 and 1990, on the order of 754,975 tons (over 1.5 billion pounds or 684 million kilograms) of chemical weapons were disposed in European waters. At least 21 European Nations are now potentially at risk because of the expected toxic effect on marine life and the food chain.Critical research revealed in over 400 print pages contains 111 images including 23 declassified TOP SECRET, SECRET, CONFIDENTIAL, and RESTRICTED documents, 40 photographs, and 17 maps.Principal Chapters:• Evolution of Plans for the Disposition of Captured Chemical Weapons• Accounting of All Captured Chemical Weapons• Accounting of All Sea-Disposed Chemical Weapons• Locations of the Scuttled Ships• Estimated Total Chemical Warfare Agents Disposed in European Waters• Legal Responsibilities of States• Conclusion and The Imperative for an International Strategy“Bottom Line”The environmental and public health problems facing European nations incident to the anticipated release of potentially massive amounts of slowly hydrolyzing nerve and blister agents into the marine environment are more critical and urgent than generally supposed. Increased incidents of human and marine injury in recent years have convinced many the threat of chemical poisons leaking from the deteriorating shells, canisters, and containers on the ocean floor is an imminent and insoluble problem. The fundamental premise of this study is that when the these sea disposals occurred, dumping of toxic CW into the ocean was the preferred disposal method and was not an act of malevolence or ill will. Such dumping was not prohibited and the effect on the environment was simply not considered important at that time. It is therefore not the intent of this book to affix blame or culpability.Rather, a detailed analysis of principal findings underscores the imperative for an international strategy and a proposal for international collaboration and cooperation in addressing the potential problem is advanced. THIS IS THE BLACK & WHITE VERSION.THE FULL COLOR VERSION IS ALSO AVAILABLE.Key Links:• The Institute for Sea-Disposed Chemical Weapons:http://www.isdcw.org• Facebook Sites: o Book: “The Sea Disposal of Chemical Weapons”: http://www.facebook.com/TSDCW o Institute for Sea-Disposed Chemical Weapons: http://www.facebook.com/157185534305736

Traces through more than a century of evolving chemical weapons technology, public attitudes toward these weapons, attempts to negotiate controls on them and important instances in which nations chose to use or forego the use of them. Analyses the potential deterrent role of chemical weapons for NATO and the political-military roles that these weapons might play in the Third World. Projects four major challenges arising from chemical and biological weapons.