Old Mustard Gas Canisters May Have Sickened Fishermen

WBZ TV

Two Connecticut fishermen were sickened Sunday after they discovered about ten old military canisters while dredging for clams about 45 miles south of Long Island. As they were throwing the canisters back into the ocean, one of them broke open and exposed a fisherman named Costa, who developed blistering on his arm and leg several hours later. New Bedford fisherman Kevin O'Sullivan told WBZ-TV in Boston the canisters had the date "1914" or "1918" on it, and there's speculation that they may be WWI-era mustard gas.

Captain Kieran Kelly of the E.S.S. Pursuit returned to New Bedford around 4 a.m. Monday so Costa could get medical attention; he was later transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital for further treatment after his condition worsened, the AP reports. The Pursuit went back out to sea, but returned around 9:30 a.m. when a second crew member reported feeling lightheaded. Captain Kelly took her out a third time, but after learning of the incident, the Coast Guard issued a rare "captain of the port order," which commanded the boat to return to port.

The Pursuit is currently anchored south of New Bedford under quarantine. "There's a 500-foot radius around that ship that no one can go to, except us," Captain Kevin Morris of the Marine Strike Team tells CBS2. Captain Kelly has refused to leave the Pursuit during the investigation, even though he says, "My eyes are quite sore; I wash my eyes every few minutes. There's burning on my face, cheeks and hand." Coast Guard spokesman Jeff Hall said earlier that the canisters may have contained mustard gas, but when pressed declined to confirm that speculation. The second fisherman was treated and released.

It's not unheard of for New Bedford fishing ships off of Block Island Sound to drag up military hardware. In Joseph Mitchell's Up in the Old Hotel, the author describes multiple instances of mussel draggers catching aerial depth bombs that became stuck in the mud after being dropped by Army and Navy aircraft during WWII. (They were dropped during the war targeting German submarines.) According to Mitchell, the bombs were dragged up for years after the war, and several fishermen were killed after a bomb brought up in their net exploded.

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By John Del Signore in News on June 8, 2010 11:01 AM

Comments [rss]

NannyState

That's what they get for violating local ordinance...

ANGRYGOD11

Every now and then a German construction site finds, in the worst possible way, unexploded ordinance from WW2. It's getting rarer, but people in France or Belgium are still killed by buried shells or bombs from WW1.

SFNY

Deadliest Catch?

S.D.

...

Who are you and WTF have you done to JDS?!?!?!

This is waaayyy to factual and straight up!!!!

;)

henryhamilton

I'm sorry, but tossing them back is the only sensible thing to do. They were dragging for clams, and those obviously were not clams.

fuboy

You'll be happy to know that the US banned the practice of dumping chemical weapons into the ocean in 1972. This was after the military dumped 64 million pounds of mustard gas alone into 24 sites on both coasts.

Oh, and the maps of the locations are spotty, so it's pretty much 'good luck' for fishermen in 11 states.

At least these containers aren't leaking like the Nazi dumping site in the Baltic Sea...

JacqueMehoff

another reason why they (fishermen) have one of the most dangerous jobs around. now they gotta watch out for chemical weapons and unexploded munitions.

JacqueMehoff

the people have spoken, they want mustard with their clams.

why else would the captain go out 3 times for that yummy bounty of the sea.

Jen Chung

LOLZ

r1b2

Shouldn't there be some standard that fishing boats are required to be more responsible if they stumble upon these items? Isn't there more these captains could do than simply toss it all back in?

Politburo

Not really.

Think about it.. you pull this canister up, and now you're saying they can't just throw it back. So what do they do with it? It's not like a fishing vessel has a hazardous materials/explosives containment unit, or personnel trained to handle these objects.

There's not really any danger from them being on the ocean floor. It seems like you're just creating new problems by not tossing them back.

Guest

Your argument works except for the fact that they didn't know what was in it and could have put it in the hold and that it didn't hurt them until they tried throwing it back in.

Politburo

And the obvious counter-hypothetical is that you don't know what it is, put it in the hold, and then it blows up and kills everyone on the ship. Brilliant.

These things have been sitting in the ocean for 90 years. They're not stable.

Guest

Agreed, but there are too many what-ifs. What if it contained gold or oil or countless other valuable items? What if it was the cure for cancer? What if the body of Harry Houdini was in it? You're going from the point of view that everything dug up in the ocean is potentially explosive, so leave it alone. I'm looking at it more optimistically. Anyway, at least the military has an idea of where the barrels are now.

Politburo

That's correct, there are too many what-ifs. Which is how I reached my line of thinking, also known as "better safe than sorry".

Guest

I like 'better safe than sorry' sometimes, but I'm glad our ancestors weren't really all about that or we'd still be swinging from trees to avoid predators.

Politburo

That makes no sense.

Guest

If you say so. Taking risks has been highly profitable to the human race. Being safe has too. We have dual natures and that's why we're superior to animals. It's also why we bicker over nothing. Makes it fun to live and learn.

Politburo

That's great and all, but has nothing to do with anything we were discussing.

r1b2

Shouldn't there be some standard that fishing boats are required to be more responsible if they stumble upon these items? Isn't there more these captains could do than simply toss it all back in?