Old Mustard Gas Canisters May Have Sickened Fishermen
WBZ TVTwo Connecticut fishermen were sickened Sunday after they discovered about ten old military canisters while dredging for clams about 45 miles south of Long Island. As they were throwing the canisters back into the ocean, one of them broke open and exposed a fisherman named Costa, who developed blistering on his arm and leg several hours later. New Bedford fisherman Kevin O'Sullivan told WBZ-TV in Boston the canisters had the date "1914" or "1918" on it, and there's speculation that they may be WWI-era mustard gas.
Captain Kieran Kelly of the E.S.S. Pursuit returned to New Bedford around 4 a.m. Monday so Costa could get medical attention; he was later transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital for further treatment after his condition worsened, the AP reports. The Pursuit went back out to sea, but returned around 9:30 a.m. when a second crew member reported feeling lightheaded. Captain Kelly took her out a third time, but after learning of the incident, the Coast Guard issued a rare "captain of the port order," which commanded the boat to return to port.
The Pursuit is currently anchored south of New Bedford under quarantine. "There's a 500-foot radius around that ship that no one can go to, except us," Captain Kevin Morris of the Marine Strike Team tells CBS2. Captain Kelly has refused to leave the Pursuit during the investigation, even though he says, "My eyes are quite sore; I wash my eyes every few minutes. There's burning on my face, cheeks and hand." Coast Guard spokesman Jeff Hall said earlier that the canisters may have contained mustard gas, but when pressed declined to confirm that speculation. The second fisherman was treated and released.
It's not unheard of for New Bedford fishing ships off of Block Island Sound to drag up military hardware. In Joseph Mitchell's Up in the Old Hotel, the author describes multiple instances of mussel draggers catching aerial depth bombs that became stuck in the mud after being dropped by Army and Navy aircraft during WWII. (They were dropped during the war targeting German submarines.) According to Mitchell, the bombs were dragged up for years after the war, and several fishermen were killed after a bomb brought up in their net exploded.
WBZ TVTwo Connecticut fishermen were sickened Sunday after they discovered about ten old military canisters while dredging for clams about 45 miles south of Long Island. As they were throwing the canisters back into the ocean, one of them broke open and exposed a fisherman named Costa, who developed blistering on his arm and leg several hours later. New Bedford fisherman Kevin O'Sullivan told WBZ-TV in Boston the canisters had the date "1914" or "1918" on it, and there's speculation that they may be WWI-era mustard gas.
Captain Kieran Kelly of the E.S.S. Pursuit returned to New Bedford around 4 a.m. Monday so Costa could get medical attention; he was later transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital for further treatment after his condition worsened, the AP reports. The Pursuit went back out to sea, but returned around 9:30 a.m. when a second crew member reported feeling lightheaded. Captain Kelly took her out a third time, but after learning of the incident, the Coast Guard issued a rare "captain of the port order," which commanded the boat to return to port.
The Pursuit is currently anchored south of New Bedford under quarantine. "There's a 500-foot radius around that ship that no one can go to, except us," Captain Kevin Morris of the Marine Strike Team tells CBS2. Captain Kelly has refused to leave the Pursuit during the investigation, even though he says, "My eyes are quite sore; I wash my eyes every few minutes. There's burning on my face, cheeks and hand." Coast Guard spokesman Jeff Hall said earlier that the canisters may have contained mustard gas, but when pressed declined to confirm that speculation. The second fisherman was treated and released.
It's not unheard of for New Bedford fishing ships off of Block Island Sound to drag up military hardware. In Joseph Mitchell's Up in the Old Hotel, the author describes multiple instances of mussel draggers catching aerial depth bombs that became stuck in the mud after being dropped by Army and Navy aircraft during WWII. (They were dropped during the war targeting German submarines.) According to Mitchell, the bombs were dragged up for years after the war, and several fishermen were killed after a bomb brought up in their net exploded.
Mustard gas on fishing boat confirmed
By ANIKA CLARK
aclark@s-t.com
June 09, 2010
NEW BEDFORD — The fisherman blistered and hospitalized after dredging up a chemical catch suffered from rare mustard gas exposure, according to Edward Boyer, chief of the division of medical toxicology at the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.
The center sent blood and urine samples to a state laboratory in Boston, which made the confirmation, said Boyer, who is also a professor of emergency medicine at UMass Medical School.
"There have been five exposures to mustard gas in the United States that we know of since World War I ... that have been published in the literature," he said yesterday.
Despite requiring painkillers and suffering blisters that are likely to scar, the fisherman should be released from the hospital within days, Boyer predicted.
The injured fisherman was identified by Capt. Kieran Kelly as Konstantin Burndshov but listed by the University of Massachusetts Medical Center as Konstantin Burnashov. Boyer said the man came into contact with a liquid form of mustard gas but was in good condition last night.
"Ultimately, I believe the greatest likelihood is that he will be fine. He had a small exposure. He's going to heal up," Boyer said.
The fishing boat, the ESS Pursuit, is another story. It is being kept isolated outside New Bedford Harbor.
A team of Massachusetts National Guardsmen and Navy personnel trained in disposing explosive ordnance boarded the vessel Monday evening, according to Coast Guard spokesman Jeff Hall, who said Guardsmen detected what he called blister and blood agents on the boat.
Blistering is one of numerous symptoms of mustard gas exposure, along with eye irritation and respiratory and digestive problems, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hall estimated 80 local, state and federal officials had responded to the incident by yesterday afternoon and by last night were awaiting approval from a variety of agencies on a plan to decontaminate the ship. Hall said he didn't know how long the decontamination effort would take but said he anticipated it would begin this morning.
The crew's catch has been isolated since Monday, pending testing to see whether it is contaminated.
The crew had off-loaded 180 cages containing 32 bushels of clams — each bushel roughly the size of a laundry basket, according to Jim Meyers of Meyers and Truex, the New Jersey-based company that owns the ESS Pursuit. The catch "will more than likely be destroyed," he said.
Sulfur mustard, also known as "mustard gas," is an agent of chemical warfare that the German Army began using in 1917, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. Extensive exposure to the chemical can cause permanent blindness, respiratory disease or death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Speaking via phone with The Standard-Times yesterday morning, Capt. Kelly said he felt fine and was choosing to stay aboard with the boat's mate.
David Little, 33, of Milford, N.H., was one of two crew members taken to St. Luke's Monday night after spending the entire day on the anchored ESS Pursuit. He and another fisherman belong to a second, rotating ESS Pursuit crew and boarded the ship Monday morning.
"We were actually the two relief crew members" to fill spots vacated by the first hospitalized crewman and a second man who aborted the journey because of an unrelated medical issue, he said.
"Eight hours we spent ... eight hours-plus on the contaminated boat," Little said, describing how he passed some of that time on the Internet, reading about the frenzy going on around them.
By the time he and the other man were taken to the hospital, he had eye irritation, tingling around his mouth and an upset stomach, but he was released at about 1 a.m. St. Luke's spokeswoman Joyce Brennan reported yesterday morning that the other fisherman had been released, as well.
Meyers said his company has been working with the many agencies involved in the response. Regarding the injured fisherman, he said, "We're doing all we can at the hospital for him."
By ANIKA CLARK
aclark@s-t.com
June 09, 2010
NEW BEDFORD — The fisherman blistered and hospitalized after dredging up a chemical catch suffered from rare mustard gas exposure, according to Edward Boyer, chief of the division of medical toxicology at the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.
The center sent blood and urine samples to a state laboratory in Boston, which made the confirmation, said Boyer, who is also a professor of emergency medicine at UMass Medical School.
"There have been five exposures to mustard gas in the United States that we know of since World War I ... that have been published in the literature," he said yesterday.
Despite requiring painkillers and suffering blisters that are likely to scar, the fisherman should be released from the hospital within days, Boyer predicted.
The injured fisherman was identified by Capt. Kieran Kelly as Konstantin Burndshov but listed by the University of Massachusetts Medical Center as Konstantin Burnashov. Boyer said the man came into contact with a liquid form of mustard gas but was in good condition last night.
"Ultimately, I believe the greatest likelihood is that he will be fine. He had a small exposure. He's going to heal up," Boyer said.
The fishing boat, the ESS Pursuit, is another story. It is being kept isolated outside New Bedford Harbor.
A team of Massachusetts National Guardsmen and Navy personnel trained in disposing explosive ordnance boarded the vessel Monday evening, according to Coast Guard spokesman Jeff Hall, who said Guardsmen detected what he called blister and blood agents on the boat.
Blistering is one of numerous symptoms of mustard gas exposure, along with eye irritation and respiratory and digestive problems, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hall estimated 80 local, state and federal officials had responded to the incident by yesterday afternoon and by last night were awaiting approval from a variety of agencies on a plan to decontaminate the ship. Hall said he didn't know how long the decontamination effort would take but said he anticipated it would begin this morning.
The crew's catch has been isolated since Monday, pending testing to see whether it is contaminated.
The crew had off-loaded 180 cages containing 32 bushels of clams — each bushel roughly the size of a laundry basket, according to Jim Meyers of Meyers and Truex, the New Jersey-based company that owns the ESS Pursuit. The catch "will more than likely be destroyed," he said.
Sulfur mustard, also known as "mustard gas," is an agent of chemical warfare that the German Army began using in 1917, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. Extensive exposure to the chemical can cause permanent blindness, respiratory disease or death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Speaking via phone with The Standard-Times yesterday morning, Capt. Kelly said he felt fine and was choosing to stay aboard with the boat's mate.
David Little, 33, of Milford, N.H., was one of two crew members taken to St. Luke's Monday night after spending the entire day on the anchored ESS Pursuit. He and another fisherman belong to a second, rotating ESS Pursuit crew and boarded the ship Monday morning.
"We were actually the two relief crew members" to fill spots vacated by the first hospitalized crewman and a second man who aborted the journey because of an unrelated medical issue, he said.
"Eight hours we spent ... eight hours-plus on the contaminated boat," Little said, describing how he passed some of that time on the Internet, reading about the frenzy going on around them.
By the time he and the other man were taken to the hospital, he had eye irritation, tingling around his mouth and an upset stomach, but he was released at about 1 a.m. St. Luke's spokeswoman Joyce Brennan reported yesterday morning that the other fisherman had been released, as well.
Meyers said his company has been working with the many agencies involved in the response. Regarding the injured fisherman, he said, "We're doing all we can at the hospital for him."