Author Topic: Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say  (Read 966 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline thackney

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,267
  • Gender: Male
Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/25000-barrels-ddt-dump-site-pacific-scientists-say-rcna769

Marine scientists say they have found what they believe to be as many as 25,000 barrels that possibly contain DDT dumped off the Southern California coast near Catalina Island, where a massive underwater toxic waste site dating back to World War II has long been suspected.

The 27,345 “barrel-like” images were captured by researchers at the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. They mapped more than 36,000 acres of seafloor between Santa Catalina Island and the Los Angeles coast in a region previously found to contain high levels of the toxic chemical in sediments and in the ecosystem.

Historical shipping logs show that industrial companies in Southern California used the basin as a dumping ground until 1972, when the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, also known as the Ocean Dumping Act, was enacted.

Resting deep in the ocean, the exact location and extent of the dumping was not known until now....
Life is fragile, handle with prayer

Offline thackney

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,267
  • Gender: Male
Re: Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2021, 12:55:03 pm »
Leaking Barrels Containing DDT Dumped Off California Coast Killing Sea Lions
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/04/11/leaking-barrels-containing-ddt-dumped-off-california-coast-killing-sea-lions/

 Just 10 miles off the coast of Los Angeles lurks an environmental disaster over 70 years in the making, which few have ever heard about. That is, until now, thanks to the research of a University of California marine scientist named David Valentine.

Working with little more than rumors and a hunch, curiosity guided him 3,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. A few hours of research time and an autonomous robotic submersible unearthed what had been hidden since the 1940s: countless barrels of toxic waste, laced with DDT, littering the ocean floor in between Long Beach and Catalina Island....
Life is fragile, handle with prayer

Offline thackney

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,267
  • Gender: Male
Re: Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say
« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2021, 12:56:52 pm »
How a shocking environmental disaster was uncovered off the California coast after 70 years
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-environmental-disaster-ocean-ddt-sea-lions/

...Although the exact number is still unknown, a historical account estimates it may be as many as a half a million.

After 70-plus years of inaction, Valentine's research has finally helped initiate a huge research effort to reveal the extent of the contamination.

But this offshore dump site is only a part of the story of environmental damage from years of DDT discharge along the coast of Southern California — a story which likely won't be closed for decades to come because of its ongoing impact, including a recently discovered alarming and unprecedented rate of cancer in the state's sea lion population, with 1 in every 4 adult sea lions plagued with the disease....
Life is fragile, handle with prayer

Offline catfish1957

  • Laken Riley.... Say her Name. And to every past and future democrat voter- Her blood is on your hands too!!!
  • Political Researcher
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,362
  • Gender: Male
Re: Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say
« Reply #3 on: April 28, 2021, 01:01:53 pm »
Any type of cleanup will be problematic.  Disturbing the drums that have sat in sea water for almost 80 years might do more damage than good.

Sadly, this might not be the first of these events.  RCRA wasn't promulagated until 1980.
I display the Confederate Battle Flag in honor of my great great great grandfathers who spilled blood at Wilson's Creek and Shiloh.  5 others served in the WBTS with honor too.

Offline DefiantMassRINO

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9,942
  • Gender: Male
Re: Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say
« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2021, 01:42:46 pm »
There are many such suspected underwater dump sites off the US coast, including Massachusetts.  After World War II, it seemed to be common practice among industry, especially those in the defense sector, to dump waste offshore.

Leaving it alone to leech out slowly may be less disruptive than trying to clean it up.  Salt water is especially corrosive, plus, you don't if there are chemicals that might react with each other or the salt water.

Don't eat three-eyed flounder.
Self-Annointed Deplorable Expert Chowderhead Pundit

I reserve my God-given rights to be wrong and to be stupid at all times.
"If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried." - Steven Wright

Offline catfish1957

  • Laken Riley.... Say her Name. And to every past and future democrat voter- Her blood is on your hands too!!!
  • Political Researcher
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,362
  • Gender: Male
Re: Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say
« Reply #5 on: April 28, 2021, 02:24:13 pm »
Might have to call bull shit on this one.

Had to look it up, but DDT is nearly insouluble in water. 

From wiki....

DDT is similar in structure to the insecticide methoxychlor and the acaricide dicofol. It is highly hydrophobic and nearly insoluble in water but has good solubility in most organic solvents, fats and oils.

What makes them think this is the source of any specific environmental damage.
I display the Confederate Battle Flag in honor of my great great great grandfathers who spilled blood at Wilson's Creek and Shiloh.  5 others served in the WBTS with honor too.

Offline DefiantMassRINO

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9,942
  • Gender: Male
Re: Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say
« Reply #6 on: April 28, 2021, 02:26:40 pm »
There may be more than DDT down there.  They didn't always document what they dumped offshore.
Self-Annointed Deplorable Expert Chowderhead Pundit

I reserve my God-given rights to be wrong and to be stupid at all times.
"If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried." - Steven Wright

Offline Skull

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 329
  • Gender: Male
Re: Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say
« Reply #7 on: April 28, 2021, 02:31:32 pm »
Whatever the effects of this ocean dump, this habit of putting industrial waste "out of sight and out of mind" is simple expediency & not responsible.
Truth is against the stream of common thought, deep, subtle, difficult, delicate, unseen by passion’s slaves cloaked in the murk of ignorance. Vipassī Buddha

Offline catfish1957

  • Laken Riley.... Say her Name. And to every past and future democrat voter- Her blood is on your hands too!!!
  • Political Researcher
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,362
  • Gender: Male
Re: Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say
« Reply #8 on: April 28, 2021, 03:04:08 pm »
Whatever the effects of this ocean dump, this habit of putting industrial waste "out of sight and out of mind" is simple expediency & not responsible.

Fully agree.  CAA, RCRA, CWA, et, al were all a critical statutory and regulatory need for our society in the late '70's and early '80's.
I display the Confederate Battle Flag in honor of my great great great grandfathers who spilled blood at Wilson's Creek and Shiloh.  5 others served in the WBTS with honor too.

Offline catfish1957

  • Laken Riley.... Say her Name. And to every past and future democrat voter- Her blood is on your hands too!!!
  • Political Researcher
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,362
  • Gender: Male
Re: Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say
« Reply #9 on: April 28, 2021, 03:08:44 pm »
There may be more than DDT down there.  They didn't always document what they dumped offshore.

The only regulatory control before the late '70's was the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, which basically made dumping into a navigatable water without a permit a misdemeanor.   Believe me....   Before 1980, there was almost no enforcement, and it went on uncontrolled and undocumented throughout the early industrial era.
I display the Confederate Battle Flag in honor of my great great great grandfathers who spilled blood at Wilson's Creek and Shiloh.  5 others served in the WBTS with honor too.

Offline IsailedawayfromFR

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,746
Re: Up to 25,000 barrels at DDT dump site in Pacific, scientists say
« Reply #10 on: April 30, 2021, 02:23:35 am »
The point I wish to make is that the federal govt, especially the DOD, is by far the greatest polluter of all, as per university engineers I know who are experts and consultants.

Attempting to turn this into 'An evil capitalistic company' as the scapegoat might very well turn into a federal culprit.
No punishment, in my opinion, is too great, for the man who can build his greatness upon his country's ruin~  George Washington