Submerged munitions

The term submerged munitions refers to situations where munitions have been lost or deliberately dumped into marine, freshwater, or brackish waters, sometimes continental or underground.

These are generally effects of war or military activities.

Regarding the issues, there is a dual risk: sometimes of explosion and, in all cases, in the long term, of pollution caused by munitions as well as chemical contamination of food chains (in the short or medium term).

More than a century after the 1918 armistice, and over seventy years after the defeat of Nazi Germany, hundreds of thousands of tons of these submerged weapons (conventional or chemical) still rest in lakes or on the seabed and remain dangerous. In the event of leaks due to corrosion, they can poison or contaminate animals (fish, shellfish, crustaceans) consumed by humans or farm animals (in the form of fishmeal and oils).

Given the high costs of addressing the problem and the lack of consensus on solutions. and risk measurement, its consideration seems to have been postponed until the 2000s.