Decades of dumping of weapons pose threat

John M.R. Bull of the Daily Press examined Army records to show that the previously classified weapons-dumping program was far more extensive than ever suspected and that chemical weapons that the Army dumped at sea decades ago are ending up on shore in the United States. The Army now admits that it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste - either tossed overboard or packed into the holds of scuttled vessels. The investigation found that "these weapons of mass destruction virtually ring the country, concealed off at least 11 states - six on the East Coast, two on the Gulf Coast, California, Hawaii and Alaska. Few, if any, state officials have been informed of their existence. " Furthermore, with records missing, and some destroyed, the Army is unaware of the exact locations of the dumped weapons.