Bulk retrieval and onshore re-containment of dumped drums
#00127
Recover dumped drums from the deep seabed using ROVs, lifting rigs, and sealed containment vessels, then transfer them to managed onshore storage — removing the waste from the marine environment rather than leaving it to decay in place.
Parent issue
#00121 Preventing new ocean disposal of hazardous waste
Sustainable Development Goals
Location
Description
Mechanism
Use deep-sea recovery systems — ROVs, lifting rigs, and sealed containment vessels — to raise drums from the abyssal plain and bring them ashore into managed storage engineered for the remaining hazard life. The interventionist end of the response spectrum: it ends the marine exposure pathway rather than observing it.
Where it fits
In principle the most complete resolution, and the natural alternative to consider against long-term monitoring for any discrete, high-risk unit.
Operating profile and limits
Bounded by hard physical and economic constraints. The inventory is 200,000+ drums dispersed across ~14,500 km² at ~4,700 m depth, in advanced corrosion. Many would rupture on being lifted or even approached by recovery gear, releasing contents that are presently semi-contained in sediment — the disturbance is itself the worst-case dispersal mechanism. Deep-sea recovery at this depth and scale is extraordinarily costly relative to activity levels measured so far. These constraints make whole-site recovery far harder to justify than selective recovery of a few specific, accessible, high-risk drums for study or targeted removal — which is where any real-world attempt would have to start.
Sub-issues
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