Scientists are finally learning what's inside mysterious halo barrels

"Scientists were initially worried that the barrels could contain DDT, a toxic pesticide that was banned in 1972 due to its serious environmental and health impact. However, a new study now shows that the barrels contain an unknown caustic alkali waste, which is creating eerie halos as it leaches into the sea floor. Using the remote-operated vehicle SuBastian, the researchers carefully collected samples at a set distance from barrels with halos."

"If the barrels contained DDT, the samples should have been acidic, however, the researchers found that the sediment around the barrels was actually extremely alkaline. Lead author Dr Johanna Gutleben, researcher at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, says: 'One of the main waste streams from DDT production was acid and they didn't put that into barrels. 'It makes you wonder: What was worse than DDT acid waste to deserve being put into barrels?'"

"Between the 1930s and the early 1970s, thousands of items were legally dumped at 14 deep-water sites off the coast of Southern California. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, throughout those 40 years these sites were filled with 'refinery wastes, filter cakes and oil drilling wastes, chemical wastes, refuse and garbage, military explosives and radioactive wastes.' Sediments in the surrounding area are heavily contaminated with toxic chemicals, including the pesticide DDT."

Thousands of barrels were discovered in deep waters of the San Pedro Basin near Los Angeles in 2021. Samples collected at set distances from barrels with halos showed extremely alkaline sediment rather than the expected acidity from DDT production waste. The barrels contain an unknown caustic alkali waste that is leaching into the seafloor and creating white halo rings around some containers. Legal ocean dumping off Southern California between the 1930s and early 1970s included refinery wastes, chemical wastes, military explosives and radioactive materials. Surrounding sediments are heavily contaminated with toxic chemicals, including DDT. Montrose Chemical Corporation produced large quantities of DDT and dumped acidic sludge for decades.

Read at Mail Online