Meeting at the European Parliament: (online) Maritime Security and the Blue Economy, 17th November 2021
The conference Maritime Security and the Blue Economy. Unexploded munitions and chemical residues in the sea - in search for lasting and economically viable solutions, was organized and hosted by the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament.
The event, was split into three panels:
- Underwater unexplored ordnance and chemical residues – from global problem to best solutions;
- Unexploded ordnance and chemical residues in the Baltic Sea – the state of play and call for further action;
- Research and innovative technologies as economically viable solutions.
Conventional and chemical weapons threaten human life and the marine environment. They endanger fishing and navigation, impede offshore energy development, aquaculture, shipping, tourism and other blue economy sectors.
Lack of full documentation on the location and number of ammunition dumps means it is impossible to determine just how many chemical munitions lie on the seabed. The dumps contain toxic substances and are a serious hazard to the environment and people.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, EU Commissioner for Environment, Seas and Fisheries said: The chemical residues and unexploded munition are pressing issues. It’s a good idea to bring stakeholders together to resolve the problem. Each sea basin in Europe contains enormous amounts of unexploded munition and chemical weapons. Substances in those munitions are dangerous for users of the sea and society. Sea use is intensive so the risk increases. We need to assess the risk and take actions. Under the MSFD there are several tools to monitor these residues. Maritime Security Strategy. Funding – EMFF financed 2 projects in the North Sea. In the Baltic some projects financed by INTERREG. Coordination is needed between competent authorities.
The panel dealt with the legal framework and global attempts to tackle the problem of the conventional and chemical munitions dumped in the seas and oceans.
The panel discussed the fact that sea dumping of unwanted chemical and conventional munitions has occurred at many sites around the world. Most of the dumping episodes occurred after the end of the World Wars when unused war stocks required disposal. These hazards did not evaporate deep below the surface of the seawater. They still affect the Baltic Sea, North Sea, Adriatic Sea, but also Atlantic coast of the United States, Canada and continue to be a source of concern for Australia or Japan.
These conventional and chemical weapons threaten human life and the marine environment. They endanger fishing and navigation, impede development of offshore energy, aquaculture, shipping, tourism and other sectors of the blue economy.
It was underlined that the existing international treaties and legislation do not require the removal of dumped munition and chemicals from the seabed and wrecks. There is a need for a new legislation implementing solutions to this problem.
It was also underlined that people working in the southern and western part of the Baltic (e.g. fishermen and workers engaged in the construction works at sea) may get in contact with chemical munition. This risk of encountering chemical munition is increased by the growing use of the seabed for industrial purposes such as wind farms, cables and pipelines.
During the Q&A session, an important question was asked about how changing conditions in the sea affect dumped chemicals and how urgent is the need to solve this problem. It was explained that there is a natural erosion of chemical weapons, but its exact time is not known, but most likely many of the these weapons are already on the verge of disintegration. So we cannot wait too long to act. Some weapons have lost their lethal impact and can be just treated as a toxic waste. It makes it easier to recover it. But it’s difficult to make the right assessment, sometimes they are deposited at great depths. So easier to carry out further steps if deal with toxic waste and not chemical weapon. Need to share the experience from various regions.
In April 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on chemical residues in the Baltic. It called for the EU to clean up the Baltic Sea of shipwrecks and chemical weapons from the 2WW. This resolution had been initiated by the Polish MEPs and supported by 660 members of the Parliament.
Panellists presented the most current knowledge on unexploded ordnance, munitions and chemicals lying on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, and proposed the most effective and economically viable solutions. They suggested what course of action should the EU Institutions, Member States, science, private sector and other stakeholders take to solve this problem.
Professor Jacek Bełdowski, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland explained that there is enough technology to deal with the problem of dumped munition but it need further testing in the Baltic. Dumping size in Bornholm, Gotland and Gdańsk Deep are the biggest in the Baltic.
A project led by the Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology in collaboration with other project partners, the DAIMON project developed a set of methods called the EcoTox Toolbox. The Ecotox Toolbox is based on the results of and the experience made during extensive biological and chemical field and experimental studies in dumpsites of chemical and of conventional munitions as well as in the laboratory. The aim is for the Toolbox to become a standard approach in future efforts by environmental research and regulatory bodies to monitor and assess ecological threats posed by dumped marine munitions. There’s no need to retrieve all munition from the sea. Some of it can wait, even indefinitely, but some actions need to be taken.
Panel III: Research and innovative technologies as economically viable solutions
Disposal of all munitions is a necessity. Technological developments and innovations have made removal possible. Here are some of the environmentally friendly and cost effective solutions. The Baltic Sea has enormous economic potential - removal of munitions from two World Wars is environmentally and economically essential. The importance of this was underlined in the context of the development of the Blue Economy and various sea usus such as transport, wind farms and fisheries.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Source: press information