NOAA Releases Survey Report on Underwater Munitions Site in Hawaii
No explosives or related compounds were detected in the fish samples taken during the survey. With the exception of copper, metal levels in sediment samples from the study area were low overall. Most munitions were covered with coral growth and provided some of the only refuge for fish on the otherwise uncolonized hard bottom. The munitions were found in depths ranging from 24 feet to the maximum depth of the study area, 300 feet. Scientists did not detect the presence of the explosives RDX, TNT, or tetryl during the sampling effort. A related munitions compound, dinitrotoluene (DNT), was detected in four sediment samples (three near munitions, one not associated with munitions).
During the two-week survey, requested and funded by the DOD, scientists combed a five-square-nautical-mile area off Pokai Bay known as "Ordnance Reef" with sophisticated seafloor mapping and imaging equipment to determine the boundary of the munitions area and the presence or absence of munitions constituents, such as explosives and metals. The survey team deployed a remotely operated vehicle and specially trained scuba divers to collect water, fish and sediment samples for analysis by the university and two independent laboratories. The results of the survey will serve as the basis for a DoD evaluation of the potential safety and environmental risks associated with the presence of munitions.
To download the survey from UXOInfo.com please use the link below.
Source of News Story, image, and download NOAA Website - http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2830.htm
