U.S. Disposal of Chemical Weapons in the Ocean

The U.S. Armed Forces disposed of chemical weapons in the ocean from World War I through 1970. At that time it was thought that the vastness of ocean waters would absorb chemical agents that may leak from these weapons. However public concerns about human health and environmental risks and the economic effects of potential damage to marine resources led to a statutory prohibition on the disposal of chemical weapons in the ocean in 1972. For many years there was little attention to weapons that had been dumped offshore prior to this prohibition. However the U.S. Army completed a report in 2001 indicating that the past disposal of chemical weapons in the ocean had been more common and widespread geographically than previously acknowledged. The Army cataloged 74 instances of disposal through 1970 including 32 instances off U.S. shores and 42 instances off foreign shores. The disclosure of these records has renewed public concern about lingering risks from chemical weapons still in the ocean today.