Oregon CoastWatch Warns of Possible Dangerous Gas Canisters on Beaches

Published 03/24/2013

(Oregon Coast) – Washington's coastline has seen in an increase in these possibly dangerous forms of debris – although they are not coming from Japan. Gas canisters of Phosphine have showed up on Washington beaches, according to Oregon's CoastWatch group, and the organization said these could create risks on the Oregon coast as well. (Photo courtesy Washington Department of Ecology).

“Reports from Washington state indicate that an increased number of phosphine gas fumigant canisters have been showing up on beaches there, as close to Oregon as the Long Beach peninsula,” CoastWatch director Philip Johnson said in a recent bulletin from the group. “The canisters are metallic cylinders and about 10 inches tall.”

These canisters are used on some boats from the United States, but only under strict guidelines and with permits. Phosphine is used as a fumigant on ships that carry grain and some other products, and the canisters are considered highly toxic. Even empty canisters pose serious risk, as the residue of the gas can mix with water, expand, and then become extremely flammable, prone to exploding.

There have been no reports of this in Oregon, but CoastWatch is finding the rise in their discovery in Washington alarming.

The Washington Department of Ecology has produced a publication providing background on this potential risk to beachcombers, which you can see here.

To report tsunami debris or any hazardous material on the Oregon coast, call 211 (1-800-SAFENET) or send an email at beach.debris@state.or.us.

See constantly updated news about Oregon coast and Washington coast tsunami debris here

More insantances of tsunami debris from Oregon coast below:

Photo courtesy Terry Morse

Photo courtesy Terry Morse

Gleneden Beach debris - photo courtesy OPRD

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