World War II bombs in Gulf of Mexico

There are millions of pounds of unexploded munitions from World War II dumped in the Gulf of Mexico that pose a risk to offshore drilling and the environment.  Dumping of these munitions occurred from 1946 to 1970 in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Hawaii coasts, but now that they are more than 60 years old, they may be a threat researchers say.  Chemical agents could be leaking from some of them and many of them could be still capable of exploding which are two big problems.  Surveys that were taken showed that chemical weapon canisters appeared to be leaking materials such as mustard gas.  One reason to worry is that we do not know if there is an environmental risk and the Obama administration and energy companies want to pick up the pace of drilling.  Last year BP had to shut a major pipeline down for 5 days to remove a 13 foot unexploded German mine. Terrance Long, founder of the International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions, stated that you can find munitions in basically every ocean and major sea around the world which leads to a threat to human health and the environment.  This story made me think of how humans have such an impact on our world and the environment.  The things we do in the past obviously will affect our future, for example climate change, but we choose not to worry about it until it is an urgent matter.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/28/14141378-world-war-ii-bombs-mustard-gas-in-gulf-of-mexico-need-to-be-checked-experts-warn?lite