Old Mayport sailor seems to recall that area was used for an ordnance dump after WW2
Florida's WWII training left untold hazards for oil speculators
Jim Waymer Florida Today July 29, 2017
But the industry charge to search for oil and gas using powerful airguns in the Atlantic has raised questions among experts, such as Barton, about how much is known regarding what types of munitions have been dumped where, and how well documented they were.
The airgun surveys would be far offshore from where the Fort Pierce training took place. Of the seven applicants looking to use airguns off Florida, six want to scan about as far south as middle Brevard County and one about as far south as the Bahamas, yet far east of Florida.
But Barton, the Norfolk, VA-based disposal expert, is deeply worried about airgun testing along the Eastern Seaboard, because of the lack of accurate records of where munitions were dumped.
Under seismic survey proposals being considered by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management – the lead regulator of oil and gas exploration – ships would tow arrays of seismic airguns, which produce compressed air bubbles under extreme pressure to create sound. Hydrophones towed near the surface record sound that bounces back from the ocean floor to create a 3-D image of geological formations that hint at oil or gas deposits deep in the seabed.
"There's no need to panic, but if people are allowing seismic testing over munition dumps, nobody can say exactly what's out there, and what is going to be the impact of blasting it," Barton told FLORIDA TODAY. "Nothing good can come of blasting rotten ammunition dumps with seismic cannons."
More:
https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2017/07/29/floridas-wwii-training-left-untold-hazards-oil-speculators/505158001/