Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Cleanup of A.C. clam boat tainted with mustard gas

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Crews have begun decontaminating an Atlantic City-based clam boat that was isolated off New Bedford after it pulled up munitions shells tainted with mustard gas.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Crews have begun decontaminating an Atlantic City-based clam boat that was isolated off New Bedford after it pulled up munitions shells tainted with mustard gas.

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Jeff Hall said officials hoped the ESS Pursuit would be free to leave by Thursday. He said cleanup crews were relying heavily on bleach, which dilutes the mustard gas, and elbow grease.

The crew pulled up two shells with its catch Sunday off Long Island. The next day, crewman Konstantin Burndshov was hospitalized with blisters from the gas exposure. He was listed in good condition Wednesday at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.  

- AP