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Historic Disposal of Military Munitions in US Coastal Waters

Second International Dialogue on Underwater MunitionsHonolulu, Hawaii

February 2009

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Highlights• Definitions• History of DoD sea disposal operations• Reason for study • Using historical information in designing characterization

studies• General references

Definition – Military MunitionsMilitary munitions means all ammunition products and components produced for or used by the armed forces for national defense and security, including ammunition products or components under the control of the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard, the Department of Energy, and the National Guard. The term includes confined gaseous, liquid, and solid propellants; explosives, pyrotechnics, chemical and riot control agents, smokes, and incendiaries, including bulk explosives, and chemical warfare agents; chemical munitions, rockets, guided and ballistic missiles, bombs, warheads, mortar rounds, artillery ammunition, small arms ammunition, grenades, mines, torpedoes, depth charges, cluster munitions and dispensers, demolition charges; and devices and components thereof.

(10 U.S.C. 101(e)(4)(A) through (C))

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Definition – Discarded Military Munitions (DMM)DMM are military munitions that have been abandoned without proper disposal or removed from storage in a military magazine or other storage area for the purpose of disposal. The term does not include UXO, military munitions that are being held for future use or planned disposal, or military munitions that have been properly disposed of, consistent with applicable environmental laws and regulations.

(10 U.S.C. 2710(e)(2))

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Definition - UXOUnexploded Ordnance (UXO) – Military munitions that

(A) have been primed, fuzed, armed, or otherwise prepared for action; (B) have been fired, dropped, launched, projected, or placed in such a manner as to constitute a hazard to operations, installations, personnel, or material; and(C) remain unexploded whether by malfunction, design, or any other cause.

(10 U.S.C. 101(e)(5)(A) through (C))

• DMM were taken from storage for disposal • Less chance of functioning than UXO• May not have all of the components needed for them to function

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History of US Sea Disposals• Military forces have always needed to dispose of excess,

obsolete and unserviceable ammunition such as– Inventory following an major conflict exceeding available storage or

expected need – Ammunition for weapons no longer in the inventory (e.g.,

cannonballs)– Deteriorating items (e.g., leaking or exuding) or those not performing

as designed– Captured enemy ammunition

• Disposals were generally conducted following specific regulations, policy, etc.– Done to minimize potential hazards– Locations reported to hydrographic office

History of US Sea Disposals• Disposal options were limited, particularly for chemical warfare

materials (CWM)• Use as intended (e.g., training)• Salvage/demilitarization • Open burn/open detonation• Burial on land• Burial in water

• Disposals included:− Conventional and chemical munitions, often co-disposed− Bulk materials (explosives and chemical agent )− Other materials, such as radiological waste, may have been co-

disposed

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Timeline1905 Earliest known sea disposal1919 Earliest known sea disposal of CWM

News articles on disposals1944 – 1948 Large scale disposals of captured enemy ammunition

and excess US inventories1946 – 1961 LST 519 was frequently used for routine sea disposals1964 – 1970 Operation CHASE disposal of 19 hulks filled with

conventional munitions and CWM15 conventional disposals, greater than 11,860 tons net explosive weight

1971 Secretary of Navy declares end of sea disposals1972 Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act

restricts sea disposal activities

Overarching Goal

Manage risk associated with sea disposed military munitions

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Types of Impacts• Acute

– Explosion– Fire– Chemical exposure that results in death or serious

injury• Chronic

– Requires prolonged exposure– Example cancer

• Can be human or ecological

• Risk communication is a highly effective tool in reducing injuries

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Characterization Needs

• Where• Size of area• What• Quantity• Condition• Use of area

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Disposal Locations

• DoD policy and guidelines provide an indication of site locations− Authorized disposal sites ranged from 5 to over 250 miles from

shore− Depths ranged from 50 to 16,000 feet

• Designated sites− Were generally 100 square miles (10 miles x 10 miles) − May also have been used by others for disposal of

industrial and municipal wastes• Formally established sites reported to hydrographic office • Accuracy in logbook only to nearest minute (about 1 nm)

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DoD Policy & Guidelines on DisposalsYear Distance from shore Minimum depth

1917 (Navy) “Totally unserviceable powder and chemicals … shall be condemned to be thrown overboard or otherwise destroyed.” It is unclear if this applied only to ships supplies or also included cargo. Application to munitions is also unclear.

1920 (War Department)

“They [CWM] should not be thrown into water, and care must be taken that they are not buried near sources of water supply.” Prohibition may not have applied to saline waters

1928 (Army) Allowed to be “placed on barges and towed out to sea”

1941 (Army) Not specified Deep ocean1944 (War Department)

10 miles Deep place or ledge sloping seaward

1944 (Navy - OCONUS) Not specified 300 feet (April); 600 feet (December)

1945 (War Department)

10 miles 600 feet (April & August)900 feet (June)

1945 (Navy) 10 miles 900 feet (April),3,000 feet for conventional munitions6,000 feet for CWM (December)

1946 (Navy & War Department)

10 miles 3,000 feet for conventional munitions6,000 feet for CWM

1949 (Army & Air Force)

10 miles 6,000 feet

1951 (Army) 10 miles 6,000 feet1969 (Army) – Emergency Only

10 miles 6,000 feet

1973 (Army) Prohibited Prohibited 13

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CWM Disposal SitesUnder 10

2%11 - 100

12%

Over 10175%

Unknown11%

6,000-9,99934%

Over 10,00051%

1,000 - 5,9992%

Unknown11%

Under 1,0002%

Percent of chemical agent disposal by miles from shore

Percent of chemical agent disposal by depth in feet

Graphs based on net agent weight, FY06 data

Charted Disposal Sites

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Sea Disposal Methods• Loose or “over the side” disposals

– Disperses items over a large area– Items may penetrate well beneath surface of sea floor– May make targets hard to find on seafloor– Widely used method until WWII

• Consolidation in hulks and sinking– Only method used between 1964 and 1970– Large sonar target

Quantities• Events ranged from a few items to 1,000s of tons• Individual items could be a few ounces to 1,000 or

more pounds

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How Much CWM Did DoD Sea Dispose?

•Approximately 30,000 tons of chemical agent was disposed in US waters

Data published in Defense Environmental Programs FY08 Annual Report to Congress (ARC), Appendix Q

Lewisite36%

Nerve (GB, GA, VX)1%

Mustard55%

Arsenic, AsCl3, Cl2S2

2%

Blood (CK, AC)1%Unspecified Agent

5%Phosgene

0%

Conventional Munitions Constituents• Common high explosive fillers (secondary explosives)

• TNT• RDX• Explosive D

• Metal components

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Energetic Materials

Explosives Propellants Pyrotechnics

Primary

Secondary

Inorganic Organic

Single Base

Double Base

Triple Base

Composite

Flares

Smoke

Tracers

Incendiaries

Drawings of Munitions• Show sizes of items in HI waters• Relate to detection equipment• Amount per release• Boxcar diagram• Corrosion time for shells• Release mechanism (drwgs from Geoff report)

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Releases Depend on Breaching of Item

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Release of High Solubility Fill

Release of Low Solubility Fill

Distribution of Releases

Figures after MEDEA, 1997

It is just a matter of time

Condition of Items• Some items were in poor condition

at time of disposal• Drums often failed on disposal• Some items remain in seawater for

extended periods w/o corroding

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Corrosion

Leak

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Military Munitions Design• Manufactured to strict specifications• Information on materials and quantities are

available• Minimum wall thicknesses are known and can

be used to develop gross estimates of when breakthrough will occur

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Basic Desktop Information to Support Characterization

• Nautical charts for location and depth• Chemical fate and transport data based on

knowledge of what was disposed – supports development of conceptual site model

• State department of natural resources to determine current site usage

• Journals or geological references for information on bottom materials

Planning the Study• Selection of acoustic, optical or chemical

detection equipment based on:– Site area– Item size – Distribution on bottom– Depth

• Selection of analytical suite– Constituents in items disposed– Toxicity– Persistence– Mass of constituents

Per containerTotal

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Best References on US DisposalsMost up-to-date data on quantities and locations of disposals• Current Defense Environmental Programs Annual Report to

Congress, Appendix on Sea Disposal of Military Munitions (www.denix.osd.mil)

Overview of issues• U.S. Disposal of Chemical Weapons in the Ocean: Background

and Issues for Congress, Congressional Research Service Report RL33432, 2007

Modeling of chemical agent releases• Ocean Dumping of Chemical Munitions: Environmental Effects

in Arctic Seas, 1997 (www.foia.cia.gov)

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Contact Information

Geoff CartonSenior Analyst

CALIBRE Systems, inc

Geoff.Carton@calibresys.com

Dispersion and Zone of Influence

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• Physical properties• Rate of release• Toxicity• Disposal site properties (currents)

A number of gross predictions on fate and effects can be made with knowledge of materials disposed and the location

Atlantic (11 sites)

52%

Carribean (1 site)0%

Pacific CONUS (1 site)

35%

Gulf of Mexico (2 sites)

1%Alaska (1 site)

3%Hawaii

(3 sites)9%

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Where Did DoD Conduct CWM Disposal Operations in US Coastal Waters?

Graph based on net agent weight

Why Should We Conduct Historical Research?

• Advance research maximizes efficiency of field effort • Archival research is inexpensive compared to field work• Historical information:

– Provides a location for starting survey effort– Allows advance identification of munitions types/fills– Supports selection of equipment and analytical suite

• Identifying disposal locations on charts is a quick and highly effective way of reducing unintentional encounters with munitions

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