Dump-site locations and drum condition are poorly known
#00118
Barrels were logged only approximately when dumped. Their exact positions on a 14,500 km² abyssal plain, their present state of corrosion, and which have already breached and spilled are largely unknown — you cannot manage or monitor what you cannot find.
Parent issue
#00117 Legacy radioactive and hazardous waste deliberately dumped in the deep sea
Sustainable Development Goals
Location
Description
Why this is its own facet
Historical dumping records give rough quantities and approximate release coordinates, not the location of individual drums. In the NE Atlantic zone that means finding metre-long objects scattered for decades across ~14,500 km² of abyssal plain in total darkness beyond 4,700 m. Until a site is actually mapped, everything downstream — condition assessment, contaminant monitoring, disturbance-avoidance — is blind.
Specific gap
Two things must be established on site: where the drums are (precise georeferenced positions), and what state they are in (intact, corroding, or breached and leaking). Direct observation in 2025–2026 confirmed the concern is real: some drums are heavily degraded and have already spilled their contents onto surrounding sediment. Coatings vary (resin, bitumen, cement), so decay rates and breach behaviour differ drum to drum, which only close inspection can resolve.
Why generic approaches under-serve it
Ship-borne remote sensing cannot resolve individual metre-scale objects at abyssal depth, and blanket sampling of a 14,500 km² area is infeasible. The facet demands purpose-built deep-sea survey and inspection, distinct from the ecosystem-transfer and prevention facets that depend on its output.
Sub-issues
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