Commercial fishing crews in the Atlantic continue to dredge up dangerous chemical weapons dumped decades ago. Seventeen thousand tons of mustard gas and other munitions were disposed of off the Atlantic coast until 1970, and the legacy of this decision keeps resurfacing in unexpected ways.

Health officials from New Jersey and the CDC documented three incidents between 2016 and 2023 where crews accidentally brought up chemical warfare munitions. Six crew members were exposed to mustard agent, which causes severe blistering burns. One fisherman required hospitalization and skin grafting after handling a munition that was later thrown overboard.

Beyond the human toll, these incidents create food safety nightmares. In one case, clams dredged alongside a munition entered production before the incident was reported, triggering a recall of 192 cases of clam chowder and the destruction of 704 cases of clams. The CDC warns that ocean drift and storms make the exact locations of these dump sites largely unknown, leaving fishermen vulnerable to future encounters.