Current:Home > MyWWII-era munitions found under water in survey of Southern California industrial waste dump site -WealthMindset Learning
WWII-era munitions found under water in survey of Southern California industrial waste dump site
View
Date:2025-04-18 06:38:50
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Underwater dump sites off the Los Angeles coast contain World War II-era munitions including anti-submarine weapons and smoke devices, marine researchers announced Friday.
A survey of the known offshore sites in April managed to identify munitions by using high-definition video that covered a limited portion of the sites, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, which led the survey, said in an email.
The survey, which used deep-water uncrewed vehicles equipped with sonar and a video camera, was a high-tech follow up in a region known to have been the dumping ground for industrial and chemical waste from the 1930s through the 1970s.
A 2021 survey using sonar had uncovered more than 25,000 “barrel-like objects” on the sea floor that possibly contained DDT and other toxic chemicals. High levels of the toxic chemical were previously found in sediments and marine mammals in the region, and DDT has been linked to cancer in sea lions.
However later research, including from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, suggested that much of the contamination may have come from acid waste containing DDT that was stored in above-ground tanks and then dumped into the sea in bulk from barges rather than in barrels.
The April survey included taking some 300 hours of high-definition video in a slice of that area, which allowed researchers to identify some of the mysterious boxes and barrels thousands of feet below the surface on the sea floor in lines between the mainland and Santa Catalina Island, Scripps said.
“In every debris line sampled with video, the majority of targets were found to be munitions,” the Scripps email said. “According to scientist Eric Terrill: ‘we started to find the same objects by the dozens, if not hundreds.”’
Sonar scanned a much larger area of the dump sites but wasn’t precise enough to distinguish the nature of the thousands of objects previously noted because munitions and barrels are similar in size, meaning video was the only way to positively identify the sea floor objects, Scripps said.
Researchers concluded that most of those identified objects were “multiple types of discarded military munitions and pyrotechnics,” according to an earlier statement from Scripps.
They included anti-submarine depth charges and smoke floats used to lay down cover for warships.
The US. Navy said the munitions were probably dumped during the World War II era as ships returned to port, at that time considered a safe and government-approved disposal method.
In a statement, the Navy said it is reviewing the findings to determine “the best path forward to ensure that the risk to human health and the environment is managed appropriately.”
___
This story has been corrected to delete a reference to thousands of sea floor objects being identified as World War II-era munitions through a survey of a known California offshore industrial waste dumping site. A clarifying statement from the research institution that led the survey says that while sonar was used over an area containing thousands of objects, high-definition video — the only way to identify the objects as munitions — was used only in a limited portion of the survey area.
veryGood! (66)
Related
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- When will Lionel Messi retire from soccer? Here's what he said about when it's time
- Judge dismisses murder charges ex-Houston officer had faced over 2019 drug raid
- Why Michael Strahan's Daughter Isabella Is Struggling to Walk Amid Cancer Battle
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- 'Truth vs. Alex Jones': Documentary seeks justice for outrageous claims of Sandy Hook hoax
- Suspect in 3 Pennsylvania killings makes initial court appearance on related New Jersey charges
- Celeb Trainer Gunnar Peterson Shares 4-Year-Old Daughter's Cancer Diagnosis
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- West Virginia Gov. Justice breaks with GOP Legislature to veto bill rolling back school vaccine rule
Ranking
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- 4 people killed and 5 wounded in stabbings in northern Illinois, with a suspect in custody
- Kristen Stewart Shares She and Fiancée Dylan Meyer Have Frozen Their Eggs
- Former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader Krystal Anderson dies from sepsis after giving birth
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- Bob Uecker, 90, expected to broadcast Brewers’ home opener, workload the rest of season uncertain
- Is there a safe way to 'make weight' as a high school wrestler? Here's what experts say
- Washington state's Strippers' Bill of Rights, providing adult dancers workplace protections, signed into law
Recommendation
A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
About 2,000 migrants begin a Holy Week walk in southern Mexico to raise awareness of their plight
Illinois Supreme Court to hear actor Jussie Smollett appeal of conviction for staging racist attack
New spicy Casey McQuiston book 'The Pairing' comes out this summer: What fans can expect
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
Evers signs new laws designed to bolster safety of judges, combat human trafficking
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Middle of the Road
Children's author Kouri Richins tried before to kill her husband, new counts allege