Chemical weapons dump discovered off west coast of Vancouver Island

Chemical weapons dump discovered off west coast of Vancouver Island
By: The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER —

A Canadian Forces team has found a stash of old chemical weapons on the ocean floor off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

CBC reported Monday that officials say the weapons were found in June following a review of military archives, but won’t say exactly where they were found.

Chris Hough, who heads the chemical and biological weapons disposal project at the Department of National Defence, says the dump site is in deep water about 160 kilometres off the B.C. coast — and is unlikely to pose a threat to human health.

‘‘There is one location off the west coast of Canada where agents were disposed. We’re still looking into that site to determine what the issue is there, if there is a risk,“ he told CBC.

But Craig Williams, the director of a U.S.-based watchdog agency, says very little is known about the environmental impact of such sites.

‘‘These ocean dump sites certainly have more questions than answers. And I don’t believe there’s anyone on the planet who can identify the potential ecological impact of these substances with precision,’’ Williams says.

Canada and the U.S. dumped explosives, mustard gas and other chemical agents off both coasts of North America following the Second World War.

Hough says his people are still not sure which country’s chemical weapons have been found.

“Whether or not they came from an American source in the very beginning, or if they are strictly Canadian, we can’t say emphatically if that is the case.’’

The military says it needs to gather more information about the site before a safe cleanup can be considered.