The Nord Stream pipeline explosions happened in a dumping ground for chemical warfare, but other contaminants proved most toxic to marine life The exp

Nord Stream Pipeline Blasts Stirred Up Toxic Sediment

submited by
Style Pass
2023-03-18 21:00:04

The Nord Stream pipeline explosions happened in a dumping ground for chemical warfare, but other contaminants proved most toxic to marine life

The explosions that blasted holes in the underwater Nord Stream gas pipelines kicked up long-buried toxins at levels high enough to threaten marine life for more than a month, analysis of the site suggests.

Last September, a series of four explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines — which run from Russia to Germany — close to the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, releasing more than 100,000 tonnes of methane into the sea and the atmosphere. It isn’t clear who was behind the explosions, but the most recent speculation is that a pro-Ukrainian group was responsible.

Beneath the dramatic sight of bubbles belching from the sea, the explosions also threw up sediment from the sea bed, returning it to the water column. A team of environmental scientists, led by Hans Sanderson at Aarhus University in Denmark, were concerned that the consequences not be overlooked, particularly considering that the blasts happened in the vicinity of a historical dumping ground for chemical warfare, including mustard and arsenic agents from the Second World War. They scrambled to work out how these chemicals might affect marine life.

Leave a Comment