Locating and Evaluating Sea Disposed Munitions - Examples from the Hawaii Undersea Military Munitions Assessment (HUMMA) Project

MIREMAR - Conference

Margo Edwards, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu,Hawaii / USA, Roy Wilkens, Christopher Kelley, Eric DeCarlo, Kathryn Macdonald, Sonia Garcia, Michael Van Woerkom, Zachary Payne, Vilma Dupra, Matt Rosete, Miya Cox, Stacey Fineran, Weixi Zheng, J. C. King & Geoff Carton

Abstract

The U.S. Army funded the HUMMA Project to assess the location of, and potential risk to human health posed by, sea disposed munitions located south of Pearl Harbor, Hawai‘i. These conventional and chemical munitions have been exposed to undersea erosion since World War II.

To locate disposed military munitions (DMM) at depths of 300-600 meters, we used nested surveys beginning with side-scan sonar survey. We identified trails of highly reflective targets as candidate study sites and during a follow-on diving program, surveyed selected targets using submersibles and a remotely operated vehicle. The submersibles also collected sediment and water samples within meters of high-interest DMM. Samples were packaged and shipped to various laboratories to determine the presence of energetics and metals. Upon completion of the diving program, species of snapper and shrimp were collected near several of the sediment and water sample sites for analyses. The HUMMA project reported six major conclusions, which were presented at the meeting.

Contact
Margo Edwards
School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii / USA
margo(at)soest.hawaii.edu

Co-Authors: Roy Wilkens, Christopher Kelley, Eric DeCarlo, Kathryn Macdonald, Sonia Garcia, Michael Van Woerkom, Zachary Payne, Vilma Dupra, Matt Rosete, Miya Cox, Stacey Fineran, Weixi Zheng, J. C. King & Geoff Carton

Files

• Presentation