I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4778 

To require the Secretary of the Army to conduct a survey and monitoring 

of off-shore sites in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands where chemical 

munitions were disposed of by the Armed Forces, to support research 

regarding the public and environmental health impacts of chemical munitions disposal in the ocean, and to require the preparation of a report 

on remediation plans for such disposal sites. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2006 

Mr. ABERCROMBIE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Army to conduct a survey 

and monitoring of off-shore sites in the vicinity of the 

Hawaiian Islands where chemical munitions were disposed of by the Armed Forces, to support research regarding the public and environmental health impacts of 

chemical munitions disposal in the ocean, and to require 

the preparation of a report on remediation plans for 

such disposal sites. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hawaiian Waters 

3 Chemical Munitions Safety Act of 2006’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Until 1970 the United States Armed Forces 

7 routinely dumped military chemical munitions in 

8 ocean waters. 

9 (2) According to the report entitled ‘‘Off-Shore 

10 Disposal of Chemical Agents and Weapons Con11 ducted by the United States’’, which was prepared 

12 by the Army’s Historical Research and Response 

13 Team in 2001, chemical munitions were dumped at 

14 a minimum of three locations near the Hawaiian Is15 lands, and the weapons disposed of at these sites in16 cluded 1,100 one-thousand pound cyanogen chloride 

17 bombs, 20 one-thousand pound hydrogen cyanide 

18 bombs, 125 five-hundred pound cyanogen chloride 

19 bombs, 15,000 one-hundred-and-fifteen pound mus20 tard gas bombs, 31,000 mustard gas-filled mortar 

21 shells, 1,000 one-ton containers of mustard gas 

22 agent, 190 one-ton containers of lewisite agent, 

23 16,000 one-hundred pound mustard gas bombs, and 

24 4,220 tons of various ordinance filled with hydrogen 

25 cyanide. 


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•HR 4778 IH 

1 (3) The report also specified that chemical mu2 nitions were dumped off the coasts of Alabama, 

3 Alaska, California, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, 

4 New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 

5 Virginia. 

6 (4) The lack of research into the effect of long7 term seawater exposure on chemical munitions and 

8 the potential risks to the public and the environment 

9 has created significant public concern in Hawaii, es10 pecially among communities near coastal military fa11 cilities and military munitions disposal areas. 

12 (5) The dumping of chemical munitions in the 

13 ocean is now prohibited by the Marine Protection, 

14 Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 

15 1401 et seq.). 

16 (6) The United States is a signatory of both the 

17 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by 

18 Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, with an19 nexes, done at Washington, London, Mexico City, 

20 and Moscow December 29, 1972, and entered into 

21 force August 20, 1975 (26 UST 2403) and the Con22 vention on the Prohibition of the Development, Pro23 duction, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons 

24 and on Their Destruction, with annexes, done at 

25 Paris January 13, 1993, and entered into force 


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1 April 29, 1997 (commonly known as the ‘‘Chemical 

2 Weapons Convention’’). 

3 SEC. 3. RESPONSE TO DISPOSAL OF CHEMICAL MUNITIONS 

4 WITHIN HAWAIIAN WATERS. 

5 (a) SURVEY AND IDENTIFICATION OF DISPOSAL

6 SITES.— 

7 (1) SURVEY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the 

8 Army shall conduct a survey of all underwater sites 

9 within 12 miles of the Hawaiian Islands where 

10 chemical munitions are known or believed to have 

11 been disposed of by the Armed Forces between 1941 

12 and 1972. 

13 (2) SURVEY PURPOSE.—The purpose of the 

14 survey is to characterize the location and size of the 

15 disposal sites, the types and numbers of chemical 

16 munitions at the sites, and the condition of chemical 

17 munitions at the sites. 

18 (3) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than Sep19 tember 30, 2009, the Secretary of the Army shall 

20 submit to Congress a report containing the results 

21 of the survey. 

22 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF NAVIGATIONAL HAZARDS.— 

23 The Secretary of the Army shall cooperate with the Sec24 retary of Commerce to ensure that nautical charts and 

25 other navigation materials for Hawaiian coastal waters inVerDate Aug 31 2005 15:31 Feb 22, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4778.IH H4778

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1 clude hazards to private activities and commercial ship2 ping or fishing operations identified as a result of the sur3 vey conducted under subsection (a). 

4 (c) MONITORING.— 

5 (1) MONITORING REQUIRED.—Within one year 

6 after the completion of the survey required by sub7 section (a), the Secretary of the Army shall imple8 ment the appropriate monitoring mechanisms to rec9 ognize and track the potential release of hazardous 

10 chemical agents into the marine environment from 

11 the disposal sites covered by the survey. 

12 (2) ELEMENTS.—The monitoring regime shall 

13 include appropriate sampling, testing, and evaluation 

14 of Hawaiian coastal waters for signs of contamina15 tion from chemical munitions that may pose a risk 

16 to public health and the marine environment. 

17 (d) RESEARCH.—The Secretary of the Army, acting 

18 through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army 

19 for Installations and Environment, shall establish a pro20 gram to conduct research and provide research grants for 

21 the purpose of studying the long-term effects of seawater 

22 exposure on chemical munitions, potential public health 

23 risks associated with ocean disposal of chemical munitions, 

24 and the environmental impact of the ocean disposal of 

25 chemical munitions. 


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1 (e) REMEDIATION.— 

2 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Within one year after 

3 the completion of the survey required by subsection 

4 (a), the Secretary of the Army shall submit to Con5 gress a report containing the following: 

6 (A) An analysis of the feasibility of imple7 menting multiple remediation measures at the 

8 disposal sites covered by the survey. 

9 (B) Cost estimates for such remediation 

10 measures. 

11 (C) An analysis of the public health and 

12 environmental safety risks of the disposal sites. 

13 (2) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—The feasibility 

14 analysis required by paragraph (1)(A) shall take into 

15 account the cost of remediation measures, the public 

16 health and environmental damage risk of remedi17 ation measures, and the risk to personnel engaged in 

18 remediation measures. 

19 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

21 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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