They are a real blast from the past.
World War II-era munitions, such as anti-submarine weapons and smoke devices, have been found at a dumping site off the coast of Los Angeles, marine researchers announced Friday.
The munitions were first found through a survey of the area by a deepwater vehicle with onboard sonar and video cameras in April, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, which led the survey, explained by email.
The region was known as a government-approved dumping ground for industrial and chemical waste from the 1930s until 1972, when the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, also known as the Ocean Dumping Act, was enacted.
In 2021, a Scripps sonar survey using an underwater drone located more than 25,000 “barrel-like objects” on the seafloor off the coast of Southern California near Catalina Island.
The object may contain DDT, an insecticide banned in 1972, and other toxic chemicals, which have been found in marine mammals in the region, and have been linked to cancer in sea lions.
The Navy’s review will determine “the best path forward to ensure risks to human health and the environment are appropriately managed,” the military branch said.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
