Look at what they hauled up, and it's not Chicken of the Sea:
"A 2005 newspaper series by the Daily press of Newport News, Va., revealed that the once-classified weapons-dumping program was sweeping. The Army acknowledged that it had secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines, and rockets. More than 500 tons of radioactive waste was also tossed overboard, according to the Daily Press report.
While the military recorded some dumping locations, not all were marked, and it remains unclear where all the weaponry is today and how intact it is on the seafloor."
Here is what they kept:
"Weapons are common catch, fishermen say; Crew injury shows danger of dumping" by Peter Schworm and Beth Daley, Globe Staff | June 9, 2010
NEW BEDFORD — In a bizarre incident that spotlights the vast amount of chemical weapons and munitions debris littering the ocean floor, a crewman aboard a clamming boat remained hospitalized yesterday for exposure to mustard gas after his vessel dredged up World War I-era munition shells.
Sitting at the bottom of the sea?
Konstantin Burndshov sustained burns and blisters on an arm and leg and was sickened after handling a shell that had been hauled aboard the ESS Pursuit on Sunday in waters off Long Island, New York. The incident probably marks the first civilian exposure to the chemical warfare agent in the United States in decades, said Edward W. Boyer, a medical toxicologist who is leading the team treating Burndshov....
And it WASN'T EVEN "Al-CIA-Duh!"
For decades, the military used the waters off the United States as a dumping ground for surplus or outdated weapons.
As if it were a toilet?
With the ocean seemingly bottomless and far from people, it was considered a prudent way to get rid of old bombs and other weapons.
Not like there are fish or other life forms in there that we might eat.
Hell, we take enough mercury in from the fish, so....
Hey, is that how it is getting into the fish?
LEAKING CHEMICAL WEAPONS at the BOTTOM of the SEA?
But today, as fishermen chase catches in deeper waters, encounters with the remnants of past wars have become more common, some fishermen say....
Bizarre, and yet common, sigh.
The ESS Pursuit remained in isolation yesterday, moored off New Bedford and flanked by Coast Guard vessels as officials developed a decontamination plan. Tests on the boat revealed the presence of blister agents, a group of chemicals that includes mustard gas.
Mustard gas, used infrequently after World War I, was intended to disable enemies because the gas would get on skin and cause large, raised blisters.
Didn't Saddam use it in the Iran-Iraq War?
It was not designed as a killing agent, although it can cause death if inhaled. It is also persistent, remaining in the environment and on surfaces for days.
And here the poopy papers are worried about global fart misting!
“That is what is stunning to everyone; it is still potent now,’’ said Boyer, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School....
Fishermen in New Bedford said they often find discarded munitions at sea, but that they are typically harmless. “It’s pretty routine,’’ Crew member Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We throw them overboard as quick as possible.’’
I got something very big!!!!!
Dave Little, 32, a commercial fisherman from New Hampshire, said old weapons often turn up in the dredge, which digs several inches into the ocean floor. The weapons are shaken violently in the sorting process on board, and Little said he worries some day one will explode.
And the government will blame "terrorists," you watch!!!
Massachusetts fishermen and even beachgoers occasionally come across unexploded ordnance on Cape Cod and Island beaches, or near shore areas, because those areas were once used as practice ranges by the military. There are also former dumping grounds off Massachusetts, including a region often called the Foul Area, which had been used to dump radioactive and toxic waste until the 1970s.
Do YOU BELIEVE the LYING GOVERNMENT when they say they they have stopped?
“More experienced fishermen know to steer clear of dumping sites where drums of nuclear waste were found, but once in a while people pick up all kinds of crazy things,’’ said Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association.
Like "crazy" conspiracy theories off the web, huh?
Most of the dumping took place after World War I, World War II, and from 1950 to 1970, said David Foster, an Army spokesman.....
I wouldn't be so "conspiratorial" if it were not for the CENSORSHIP!
"A 2005 newspaper series by the Daily press of Newport News, Va., revealed that the once-classified weapons-dumping program was sweeping. The Army acknowledged that it had secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines, and rockets. More than 500 tons of radioactive waste was also tossed overboard, according to the Daily Press report.
While the military recorded some dumping locations, not all were marked, and it remains unclear where all the weaponry is today and how intact it is on the seafloor."
Back to the report from the web:
In 1972, Congress prohibited the disposal of chemical munitions at sea, and international treaties soon followed suit.
Yeah, like the executive always listens and does what Congress wants.
Cough, cough, cough.
Are you sure the Globe isn't leaking some kind of chemical weapon, readers?
“The bottom line is the sea disposal of chemical and conventional munitions was an acceptable practice up until 1972,’’ Foster said.
Now we just dump them on people in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan or give them to Israel so they can dump 'em on Palestinians or Lebanese.
--more--"
What replaced it, readers:
State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan is leading the effort to figure out what to do with the boat’s catch of thousands of pounds of clams.
Stink.
Even though a state hazardous materials unit and bomb squad determined that no mustard gas or chemical agents had seeped into the clams, the state has ordered them destroyed. The catch, 168 containers, each containing 80 bushels of clams, must be disposed of.
I never eat clams.
Used to when I was cooking, but not since.
Don't go for the fish much.
Coan said the state has never had to dispose of so much shellfish before. A team will meet this week to develop a plan to do this safely and properly, he said. “The Commonwealth has declared that the catch cannot be sold and will not be sold,’’ Coan said.
I hope not.
Yeah, you wouldn't want to know how much poison the AmeriKan military dumped into the sea. Here, have a clam roll instead and don't worry about it.
Of course, if people get sick government will say it's a mystery like the asthma.
Wanna go clamming, readers?
"Clams X-rayed after mustard gas haul
Federal officials used X-ray equipment yesterday to examine 504,000 pounds of clams in a New Bedford warehouse that were hauled up by a clammer this week that also netted World War I-era mustard gas shells. “We believe it’s highly unlikely that any ordnance or traces of sulfur are in the catch, but we have to treat it like a real threat,’’ said Lauren Jorgensen, a petty officer with the Coast Guard, one of several agencies involved with the investigation.
Anyone ready for lunch?
And after the Ghost Guard, I mean, Coast Guard's performance in the Gulf who believes them?
Think of the RAMIFICATIONS!
Maybe we SHOULD NOT BE EATING FISH at ALL!
WHO KNOWS what CHEMICALS are SWISHING AROUND down there!
The crew of the Atlantic City-based ESS Pursuit discovered eight shells while dredging for clams a few miles off the coast of Fire Island, N.Y., Jorgensen said. One shell broke open. Three crewmembers were injured.
--more--"
Ain't the WAR MACHINE GRAND, readers.
(Soccer update: Germany and Australia just started and I missed the British-Amerikan match yesterday -- slept through the whole thing -- so I would like to catch this match)
(As I was winding up Germany scored in the 8th minute to take a 1-0 lead)
