Chemical Munitions Search & Assessment

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Around 55 000 tons of chemical warfare agents (CWA) were dumped into the Baltic Sea after the World Word II. Official dumpsites are Bornholm Deep and Gotland Deep, but there is evidence for their presence also in other places on the seafloor. Their metal shells are corroding and leaking to the environment at a rate that has not been measured so far. Moreover, a large-scale leakage in case of disturbance would pose a serious biohazard to the entire Baltic ecosystem. Unaware of this risk, hydrotechnical installations and other sea-bottom activities such as trawler fishing are increasingly claiming space within the contaminated areas. CHEMSEA is a cooperation of leading scientific institutes and maritime decision makers,established in order to assess and minimise risks related to sea-bottom activities near CWA dumping sites.CHEMSEA will increase safety of underwater activities,by defining guidelines and educating the relevant stakeholders and administrations. For the first time CHEMSEA project will compile all available information concerning CWAs in the Baltic Sea – their known locations,environmental effects and the so-far practiced methods for both their detection and analysis.New methods for environmental effects analysis of CWAs will be developed and tested in laboratory conditions. CHEMSEA will fill not only methodological,but also physical gaps in CWA research,by screening for dumped munitions in the so-far not examined dumping site in the Gotland Deep and suspected locations, such as the Gdansk Deep. With help of intelligent underwater vehicles samples will be taken to identify the level of CWA degradation.The produced GIS maps showing actual munitions’ positions and the range of polluted sediments will be used to update nautical maps and will significantly contribute to maritime security,including fishery and exploitation of sea bottom. Ecological risk assessment,asking into account different dispersion scenarios will help maritime administration to assess the environmental effects as well as human health hazard in selected offshore areas in case of CWA accident, and handle responsibly in case of a major disaster. At the moment safety recommendations regarding CWA are regulated by number of national legislations,as well as HELCOM recommendations.CHEMSEA will propose updated and unified guidelines,including recommendations for CWA hot-spots where special procedures should be applied.On this basis, trainings will be organised for employees of the relevant authorities,environmental and fishery organisations and other key maritime stakeholders. Moreover,CHEMSEA partners will form a Baltic CWA advisory body for maritime administrations, acting at the same time as hands-on transnational analytical centre of CWA related hazards.Its task will be also lobbying for adoption of CHEMSEA recommendations into national legislation

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