BASRAN Action Committeé:  Harmful substances in the deep 

Dangerous Substances in the Deep include the unexploded bombs and chemical war agents which are degrading within the more than 1,000 shipwrecks lying on the bottom of this sea ever since they were sunk there mostly at the end of WWII. Latest but still incomplete surveys indicate there are more than 300,000 tons of various bombs and over 40,000 tons of chemical weapons still to be removed or neutralized. If just the chemical weapons were all to leak out within the next 12 months the Baltic would become biologically “dead” very quickly. A fence might have to be built to prevent people walking into the water.

In reality this process of destruction will probably be more gradual but things can become very toxic at any time. Fortunately, many technologies have already been developed and some pilot projects are well underway. Many of these were presented by scientists and engineers in our BASRAN Webinar of March 11, 2023. We are very grateful to all these specialists.

We will have the following exciting goals:

1.    Monitoring the progress in any new technologies which are being used to remove and/or neutralize the dangerous materials in the water. Some of these solutions include plasma ovens, underwater drones with flippers for monitoring and precise mapping, methods for localized containment and many others.

2.    Exchanging information between Baltic partner countries and encouraging further joint ventures.

3.    Raising interest in all these challenges thru media, social media and educational institutions

4.    Lobbying national and regional governments to commit more funds to speed up the projects before it is too late. Future generations will be voting based on how these critical issues are handled now.

5.    There are 9 Baltic countries which have a steak in this with a window of opportunity which could be as short as only the next 10 to 15 years. If each country committed an average of 10 billion Euros every year some experts suggest that would save the Baltic for all our children.

6.    This Action Committee’s goal will be to monitor, report and speed up the progress in all these critical challenges.

7.    Your input will involve discussion of any new developments. We can meet on ZOOM at anytime as needed. BASRAN will then promote these solutions and decide how and where to best lobby for the most effective actions to be taken.