BATTLEFIELD

CONTAMINATION AND

BEYOND: A Closer Look

Maurice G. Monroid &

Hazel Hannah J. Yuga
 “Warfare is inherently destructive of
sustainable development. States shall
therefore respect international law
providing protection for the environment
in times of armed conflict and cooperate
in its further development, as
necessary.”
– 1992 Rio Declaration
SELECTED CONTAMINANTS
OF THE BATTLEFIELD
White Phosphorus

 used by military in smoke generation,

rodent poisoning in some places
 Has two allotropes
 alpha form - stable at ordinary
temperatures
 beta form - a cubic crystal structure
which is stable below -780C
White Phosphorus

Effects
 usually related with damaged bones
and major internal organs
 presence in the environment poses
harm to any animal species who
accidentally gets in contact with it
Agent Orange and Dioxins

Agent Orange
 named after the color of the barrel
from which it was shipped from
 by-product of this compound is dioxin
Agent Orange and Dioxins

Dioxins
 poses great harm to the environment,
specifically to the carnivores, because
of its capability to accumulate while
being transferred in the higher levels of
the food chain or bioaccumulation
Agent Orange and Dioxins

Dioxins
 are fat-soluble thus cannot escape the
body easily
 Has the ability to break and disperse
and spread contamination
Lead

 36th of the most abundant natural

element in the Earth crust
 reacts freely with water, in the presence
of air, to form lead hydroxide
 Used to form a shielding for radioactive
material used in wars due to its high
density and nuclear properties
Lead

Effects
 One form of lead, lead tetraethyl Pb
(C2H5)4, used in gasolines, gives great
contribution to air pollution
 Lead taken internally, can cause
anemia, constipation, weakness, etc.
 May contaminate drinking water
Mercury

a toxic metal released by highly

explosive weapons and landmines after
blasting
 only metal which remains liquid at room
temperature
Mercury

Effects
 excessive amounts in the soil or most
dangerously in water leads to
toxification of plants and some animal
species
 also hazardous to mackerel, tuna,
salmon and swordfish
TNT and RDX

Trinitrotoluene (TNT)
 formerly the most useful military
explosive prior to the arrival of
Research Department Explosive (RDX)
 can be safely melted and cast either
alone or as slurry with other explosives
TNT and RDX

Research Department Explosive (RDX)

 used as detonators
 often mixed with TNT to form
Composition B in bombs
Nitrogen Oxide (Nitric Oxide)
 Nitric oxide + HC vapors =
photochemical oxidants
 photochemical oxidants are the main
composition of photochemical smog
 Nitric oxide + H2O vapors = nitric acid
 nitric acid is a component of acid rain
 can cause gradual depletion of the
ozone layer
Nitrogen Oxide (Nitrous Oxide)

 has the capacity to trap heat 300 times

than carbon dioxide of the same
concentration
 Both gases are released by war
aircrafts during trainings and wars
Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)

 widely used during the Kosovo war and

the industrial period of 1930’s to 1940’s
 have high resistance to decomposition
 are highly toxic to fishes and
invertebrates and fatal to animals even
in small concentrations
Perchlorate and chlorates

 go to the atmosphere and form into

chlorinated species
 decomposition releases chlorine atoms
which eventually form into free radicals
 BATTLEFIELD
CONTAMINATION CASES
AND THEIR
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Case 1: DOD’s 62,000 War Training
Facility at Fort Richardson
 The Superfund National Priorities List, a
US Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) compilation of nation’s most
polluted properties included Alaska’s
River Flat
 Due to high levels of contaminants
including heavy metals, explosive
compounds and white phosphorus
Case 1: DOD’s 62,000 War Training
Facility at Fort Richardson
 The once rich coastal area is now filled
with unexploded mortar and artillery
shell-remains of the soldiers who
trained in the Department of Defense
Training Facility (DOD)
 Despite the efforts of cleaning up the
contaminants harmful substances still
lingered
Case 1: DOD’s 62,000 War Training
Facility at Fort Richardson
 Anchorage, Alaska, where Fort Richardson
and Elmendorf Air Force Base were built
during World War II, has its economy based
on their rich natural resources including
petroleum, natural gas and fish
 Contamination of coastal areas can severely
damage, not only their environment, but also
the lives of the inhabitants
Case 2: Other DOD-related
Training Facilities’ Problem
 The highly industrialized preparatory
training of DOD already generates fuel
spills, toxic waste, air pollutions, lead
and other variety of solvents
 up to $9.7 B cleaning cost
 DOD is responsible for the 10% of the
1,240 sites of highly contaminated
environments
Case 2: Other DOD-related
Training Facilities’ Problem
 1996 – DOD launched 50,000 military
flights which contributed to the air and
noise pollution and heavy air traffic in
Washington, D. C.
 discharged 75 tons of nitrogen oxides
and volatile organic compounds which
generated smog
Case 2: Other DOD-related
Training Facilities’ Problem
 The resulting smog produced a light
brownish staining of the atmosphere,
reduced visibility, eye irritation, and
respiratory infections
 These nitrogen oxides and other
pollutants are the main causes of acid
rain which causes agronomic and forest
species to significantly reduce its
growth and production.
Case 3: Massachusetts Military
Reservation and Sierra Army Depot
 34 mi2 training facility in Cape Cod
 found out to be discharging solvents,
jet fuels, RDX and perchlorate into the
area’s only aquifer which provides
drinking water for up to 500,000 people
at the height of the area’s tourism
Case 3: Massachusetts Military
Reservation and Sierra Army Depot
 Sierra Army Depot, is renowned to be
California’s leading air contaminator in
1999
 released about 5.4 M pounds of toxic
chemicals including aluminium, copper
and zinc fumes based on the EPA Toxic
Release Inventory
Case 3: Massachusetts Military
Reservation and Sierra Army Depot
 Leaching of the metals can result to adverse
aquatic effects
 polluted air, results to the interference of the
plants’ and animals’ enzyme systems,
change in their chemical constituent and
physical structure and retardation of their
growth due to metabolic changes leading to a
decrease in their reproduction
Case 4: Post-war Annihilation of
Landmines
 Landmines, as defined by Article 2 of
the Convention in the Prohibition of the
Use, Stockpiling, Production and
Transfer of Anti- Personnel Mines and
Destruction, are designed to be
explosive in the presence, proximity or
contact of a person that will result to the
incapacitation, injury or death of the
surrounding people
Case 4: Post-war Annihilation of
Landmines
 built beneath or on land surfaces
 can be washed off and transferred from
their original location by heavy rains,
flood and other meteorological
phenomena
 The transfer increases their capability to
cause environmental destruction
Case 4: Post-war Annihilation of
Landmines
 Water pollution can happen from
leaching of heavy metals such as iron,
manganese, chromium, zinc and others
from the landmine itself
 can kill a large number of animal and
plant species in the terrestrial zone and
leads to deforestation and forest fires
which can influence climate change
Case 5: Kosovo War Bombing
 was triggered by the conflict between
Kosovo and Serbia as well as the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization
 Kosovo industries and oil refineries
were bombed by the United Stated
 resulted to oil leakages prompted the
release of SO2, NO2, CO and Pb into
the atmosphere
Case 5: Kosovo War Bombing

 Burning of Vinyl Chloride Monomer

(VCM) resulted in the formation of
dioxin, HCl and more CO
 caused the formation of a thick, grayish
smoke of VCM that was assessed to be
10,600 times beyond what a human can
tolerate
Case 6: Chechnya and Russia: A
Devastating War
 1994 – Russian troops vs Chechen
guerrilla fighter and civilians
 about 30% of Chechen territory was
contaminated
 40 % does not meet environmental
standards for life
Case 6: Chechnya and Russia: A
Devastating War
 their agricultural area is highly polluted that it
no longer meets the food supply needed for
the community
 contamination was mainly due to the
radioactive waste materials buried by the
Russians in Chechnya
 Measured radiation in one of the affected
areas reached up to 10 % more of the normal
level
 A SPECIAL REPORT ON
DEPLETED URANIUM: Recent
War’s Best Bud and Nature’s
Foe
Depleted Uranium, DU

a toxic waste product of the process of

enriching uranium ore used in nuclear
weapons and reactors
 a primary alpha particle emitter with a
radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years
 Should be deposited in repositories
History and Effects of DU

 1950’s - US became interested in DU

for their weapons due to its being
extremely dense, cheap, pyrophoric
and available in large amounts
 1960’s-1970’s - researches and testings
were done to demonstrate the effectivity
of DU as kinetic energy penetrators
History and Effects of DU

 Kineticenergy penetrators do not

explode; they fragment and burn
through armor
 DU was then eventually used in tank
armors
History and Effects of DU

 1991- during the Persian Gulf War,

American and British forces used
armor-piercing ammunition made up of
DU
 By the end of the war in 1991, most of
the soil and the equipments in the
battlefields of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and
southern Iraq were contaminated
History and Effects of DU

 These left the people exposed to DU

with health problems most especially in
their kidneys and cancer
 the Pentagon and the U.S. industry
officials did not sing it praises mainly
because of the severe health and
environmental consequences that it
could create.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN
CONSEQUENCES OF DU
 contamination of the impact areas with
fine radioactive and toxic dust
 tests show that 70% of DU penetrator
rod burns and oxidizes into extremely
small particles during impact
 These particles would disperse on air
depending on the temperature, surface
condition of fragments and wind speed
ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN
CONSEQUENCES OF DU
 DU oxide aerosol formed has a high
percentage of respirable size particles
(50 to 96%), and 52 to 83% of those
respirable size particles are insoluble in
lung fluids
 Respirable size particles are less than 5
microns in diameter
ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN
CONSEQUENCES OF DU
 Respirable size particles are easily
inhaled or ingested
 Insoluble particles are not readily
excreted from the body, and may
remain in the lungs or other organs for
years.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN
CONSEQUENCES OF DU
 some of the uranium dust remains
suspended in the air hours after impact
 Most of the DU dust comes to rest
inside, on, or within 50 meters of the
target but some can be carried by the
wind for 40 kilometers or more and they
could be resuspended in the air by the
wind or movement of people or vehicles
ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN
CONSEQUENCES OF DU
 Long-term problem – soil contamination
 DU is highly soluble in water and
migrates easily with surface or ground
water
 The end result of air and water
contamination is that DU is deposited in
the soil
ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN
CONSEQUENCES OF DU
 Once in the soil, it stays there unless
moved - the soil will not decontaminate
itself
 soil decontamination is expensive and
may cause further environmental
damage
 because clean up would require
removal of the top layer of soil
ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN
CONSEQUENCES OF DU
 Skin protects the interior of the body
from alpha particles
 Boots and other battle uniform stops
beta rays
 very low amount of gamma rays emitted
by the material makes it less likely to
cause radiation-linked diseases
ON FACING BATTLEFIELD
CONTAMINATION
 Remediation Technology for
sites contaminated with DU
 has an associated hazard of large earth
movements which may cause
landslides later on
 accompanied with toxicological hazard
due to excavation of DU to the surface
 Remediation Technology for
sites contaminated with DU
 ranges from complete to secure
disposal of all contaminated soil in a
low-level waste repository
 may not completely remove DU but it
can reduce its concentration in the
environment
 Johnston Atoll Plutonium
Cleanup
 an assembly of standard sand and
gravel handling equipment with
advanced instrumentation for
monitoring radiation and
 has software which controls the
Segmented Gate System
 TRUClean

 produces slurry of decontaminated soil

that has been leached with a strong
oxidizing agent in a concentrated acid
or base solution
 may release other heavy metals
 B&W-Nuclear Environment
Services Soil Washing
a soil-washing system for cleaning
roughly 500,000 ft3 of contaminated soil
from the Apollo Facility 35 miles
northeast of Pittsburgh
 Mobile Soil Washing System

 developed by The Westinghouse

Scientific Ecology Group, Inc.
 separates organics, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals and
radioactive contaminants from soil
Frantz Magnetic Barrier Technology

 separates and concentrates particles

according to magnetic susceptibility
 uses a magnetic energy gradient to
deflect particles of selected
susceptibility
 Paramagnetism and diamagnetism is
used
 NRT Soil Washing/Chemical
Extraction
 Developed by the Nuclear Remediation
Technologies
 a soil- washing/chemical-extraction
technology to remove radioactive
contamination
 BATTLEFIELD
CONTAMINATION:
A General View
Effects of battles / wars
 Wars are rare but the impacts are long
lasting
 Accumulation of CO2 contributing to
global warming
 Toxic wastes
 Oil,water and land pollutions