Environmental Hazards

"Out of sight, out of mind — after the two world wars, huge quantities of munition were simply dumped in the Baltic Sea. In some cases not very far from the coast. At that time there was no concern that these legacies would become a dangerous threat sooner or later."
"In German waters alone, the quantity of conventional munition and chemical warfare agents is estimated at 300,000 tons. For example, the Kolberger Heide munitions dumping area is located directly outside Kiel - a restricted area in which around 35,000 tons of sea mines and torpedoes are located at a maximum depth of twelve metres and within sight of the beach."
DW.com

Controlled demolition of water mines off the coast of Estonia

Talk of rash decisions made when collective minds are too weary and traumatized to think into future consequences; following both world wars, the first and the second, authorities faced with the clean-up of the detritus of conflict made the decision to dump hundreds of thousands of metric tons of munitions into European oceans. Somewhat like an irresponsible home-owner wanting to rid himself of the presence of household garbage simply wrapping it up and dropping it on the shoulder of the nearest highway where it can rot and befoul the landscape.

Only in the case of ridding themselves of dangerous weapons, this is far more serious in its potential to come back and haunt the world. From a readily accessible disposal method and thought process of clearing away what could be seen as irritating reminders of the horrors of war, to ridding the battered landscape of war-torn Europe of munitions, 80 and 100 years on, Europe is now sitting up and taking notice of the not-very-forward-looking decision-making of its predecessors.

The Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reported this week of an area of growing concern over a dump site close to the Belgian coastal municipality of Knokke-Heist which has begun to leak its dangerous cargo of waste. Two of 23 probed locations in the target area indicated signs of contamination, a revelation following months of official enquiries responding to fears of an imminent and mounting public safety threat.

Dangerous dive: munition remnants off the coast of Kiel

Take mustard gas as an example, a deadly chemical agent used extensively during the First World War, capable of burning skin, the respiratory tract and eyes (the cause of blindness and lethal lung edema). It became the bane of the existence of returning war veterans, suffering from its impact when mustard gas became symptomatic of inhumane attacks against servicemen. Now, Europe sees itself in a race to prevent deadly gas leaks among other hazardous substances.

Europe's underwater weapons depots containing these dangerous chemicals and explosives were initially seen as a solution, not a future threat to safety and security of nearby populations. And now alarm is also being evinced over explosives leaks where TNT from dumped land mines or sea mines have become vulnerable to leakage. Contained within metal cases for eight decades and more the metal has rusted, is porous, and the threat of the explosives viral in nature.


Environmental activists identify all these chemical and explosive leaks as being responsible in good part for a noted decrease in biodiversity in the Baltic Sea -- where over 80,000 mines lie beneath its surface. In 2005, three Dutch fishermen died in an explosive blast after accidentally catching a U.S.-made Second World War bomb in their fishing net.

Remote-controlled aquatic vehicles and clearance divers attached to European navies have undertaken efforts to clear their territorial waters. In some oceanic areas, however, the explosives density is believed to be too high to permit fishing and area prohibited -- much less exploratory efforts to determine how feasible demining might be in face of potentially setting off explosives inadvertently.