In the heady days at the end of WWII, the United States was flush with national pride born from victory in Europe and the Pacific. Unfortunately, we were also loaded with tons of unused bombs, warhead and other exciting explosives that were piled up on the nations loading docks with nowhere to explode.
The U.S. Government, in 1946, didn't want to store ordnance for the next war, because who knows when that could be? And besides, whenever the next war starts, you've just got to buy all fresh bombs, otherwise why even have a Military Industrial Complex? So the solution was obvious! Dump it all in the ocean. In this case, dump it in the Gulf of Mexico right off the coast of Louisiana. Much of this dumping was charted. Some was not charted. It could be anywhere down there.
So why am I bringing this up now? Drill (BOOM!) Baby, DRILL (kaBLAM!)
Well, actually it's more to do with the fact that I don't write many diaries, and I'm trying to.
As far as I know, it hasn't been widely reported that the BP DeepSea Horizon drill site is right on top of an area where over 30 Million tons of unexploded bombs, projectiles and chemical ordnance were dumped by the U.S. Military. Here's a map from NOAA:
When a bomb is dumped in a designated zone, it doesn't always stay put. Hurricane and other storm activity can churn the ocean floor, and often redistribute the explosives far beyond their original dumping area. Although rarely encountered in shallow waters, recent drilling in deeper waters will increase the chances of explosive encounters.
This 2007 paper shows that MMS was aware of this danger, and suggests precautions in the form of pre-mapping planned sites with high-resolution, sideways radar-mapping submersibles. Very interesting reading, if you're into that kind of stuff. The report was probably delivered to BP managers right before a coke-fuel sex orgy, and got lost in the shuffle.
We've all seen what happens when safety measures are not required on the oil companies. They are skipped.
So much more, but I'll just post this. I should mow the lawn before it rains.