ST.PETERSBURG, April 5 (AVN) - A meeting of a round table dedicated to the problems of chemical weapons dumped in the Baltic waters during WWII was held in the local House of Scientists, Alexander Startsev, head of the international centre for ecological security told the Military News Agency.
The meeting consisted of experts from the central Naval technology Rubin design bureau, Russian Ecology R&D Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences ecological security centre, other organisations concerned.
The scientists think the biggest danger is the burials of gases in the Skagerrak Strait in the south of the Baltic Sea, where there are 18 ships sunk with chemical weapons on the territory of 40 square kilometres, Startsev said.
The similar situation is in the area of Gottland Island, where there is now, according to experts estimation, a leakage of gas from rust-eaten bombs and also in the Liepaja burial. The Bornholm burial, where the chemical ammo is downed into the ooze 8 metres, is not so dangerous.
The meeting brought up several proposals for eliminating the problem of chemical burials, including their mothballing, building of a special cover above them, etc. It was pointed out that the work should be done immediately, for the scientists forecast the mass ejection of gases into the waters of the Baltic Sea in 1.5-2 years.
The round table participants approved a declaration "concerning ecological threat of the Baltic Sea burials of WWII German gases." The declaration is addressed to the governments of the Baltic countries primarily and also to the USA and Britain that directly participated in the dumping.