Blasts Cause Chemical Weapons Concerns Pipeline explosions occurred near Baltic Sea World-War-ll-era munitions dumpsite

摘要

THE SEPTEMBER 26 blasts that ruptured the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea have prompted fears about release of contaminants from long-discarded chemical weapons and other munitions from disrupted sediments and under the seabed.The €7.5-billion($7.3-billion),1,200-km-long pipelines were built to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany and are designed to last at least 50 years.They are operated by Nord Stream,Zug,Switzerland,a consortium of five shareholders.At full capacity,the pipelines could transport more than 55 billion m3/yr of gas.According to Nord Steam,that's enough to satisfy the energy demand of more than 26 million European households.However,the pipelines pass over an area known as the Bornholm basin,where,in 1947,the allies dumped approximately 32,000 tons of Germany's estimated 65,000-ton chemical weapon stockpile.The primary dumpsite originally was to span no more than a radius of three nautical miles,but later widened to secondary and tertiary zones,spreading the chemicals over a significant area.