Chemical Weapons "Found" off West Coast

Another skeleton in Canada's closet has been dug up. While watching tonight's news, I was informed that barrels of Chemical Weapons from the second World War were disposed in the ocean, off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Tonight's broadcast also suggested that similar quantities were disposed off the Atlantic coast. If these barrels have leaked, or were to leak, there would be serious environmental consequences.

These weren't the only places where chemical weapons were disposed of in Canada. Many were buried underground on military bases, one of which isn't too far from where I live.

This smear comes in the shadow of a class-action lawsuit, where dozens of former military employees are suing the government for damages sustained while being exposed to Agent Purple and Agent Orange in the 1960's.

CBC news reported the next step in fixing the problem of these chemical weapons in the ocean is a billion-dollar risk assessment. A Risk Assessment is nothing more than a very large cryptic document that details whether or not the chemicals pose a threat to life, habitat or environment where they currently lie. As far as risk assessments go, you can expect a Phase II assessment -- which delineates the extent of contamination to cost ten times as much as that.

If contamination is apparent, then the Risk Assessment goes to Phase III, or the removal and proper disposal of the hazardous substances. From my experience (as I am an environmental technician), the Phase III generally costs ten times as much as the Phase II, or by my estimates, it will cost the Canadian 100 billion dollars to remediate the contaminated areas off the east and west coasts. That is, if the numbers I was provided by the CBC were accurate.

I can't see how these barrels of chemical weapons cannot pose a threat to human or animal life, or the environment in general. They would have been better off in some grave in the Canadian Shield instead of the ocean. At least bedrock (or clay soils) have the potential to restrict contaminant migration.

Furthermore, what were these containers made of? Steel? Iron? Metal deteriorates. It's a proven fact. A big part of my job revolves around the excavation and removal of underground petroleum storage tanks, and the ones that were made out of metal rust and leak within 30 years. The ocean is a harsher environment than the clay soils of Alberta, so to me, it's obvious that these barrels of mustard gas, etc., have deteriorated and have laid waste the surrounding habitat.

Actually, I would be surprised if all these barrels are still intact. My guess is that these tanks have been leaking for at least 25 years.