Underwater Ordnance Watch: The search for discarded chemical agents outside Pearl Harbor

What Margo Edwards calls “My Scientific Detective Story” begins with flashbacks.

World War II is over. Mustard agent (a liquid used to produce mustard gas) has been stockpiled for decades from Europe to Asia.

Disposal options: bury, burn or dump the containers at sea.

Years later, Baltic Sea fishermen find unusual nodules in their nets. The polymerised balls contain liquid that burns the skin of people who come in contact with it.

The United States signs a 1975 treaty banning ocean disposal of chemical weapons. One year later, scientists conducting a biological survey for the Department of Defense south of Pearl Harbour find a dozen leaky cylinders; people handling them suffer mustard burns. A follow-up survey observes conventional munitions, but no additional mustard containers.

Further information at University of Hawaii website