100 tons of Iron Sulfate Dumped into Pacific Ocean

According to this article from science blog io9.com, U.S. businessman Russ George, in concentration with a private company and with the (probably coerced) cooperation of a Canadian First Nations Tribe dumped 100 tons of iron sulfate into the pacific ocean.

Io9.com is calling it "the world’s most significant geoengineering project to date." And, as a bonus, the project was super illegal. According to British newspaper The Guardian "International legal experts say George's project has contravened the UN's convention on biological diversity (CBD) and London convention on the dumping of wastes at sea, which both prohibit for-profit ocean fertilization activities."

George and his team of private scientists dumped the iron sulfate into the ocean because they believe that the iron sulfate will cause an algal bloom that will trap carbon and sink it to the bottom of the ocean. According to The Guardian “Scientists (independent of the dumping experiment) are debating whether iron fertilization can lock carbon into the deep ocean over the long term, and have raised concerns that it can irreparably harm ocean ecosystems, produce toxic tides and lifeless waters, and worsen ocean acidification and global warming.”  Algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico have led to massive dead zones that are depleted of oxygen and cannot sustain life.

In addition to defying UN rules, George also coerced cooperation and funding out of a First Nations village on the island of Haida Gwaii. The village let the scientists dump the iron sulfate off the coast of the island and even donated 1 million dollars to the project. They were told that the project would help the ocean’s ecosystem and the salmon population. A representative for the village said they were not informed of any violations of UN rules or of possible negative effects and if they had known they would have not supported the project.

For me this project is a huge violation of public trust and of the general rules of how you conduct a scientific experiment. They are putting the ocean and the people that base their livelihoods on it at stake. To me this has all the markers of a technological hazard. It could have been avoided if Russ George was not suffering from some sort of eco-warrior world saving hubris.

Image from The Guardian. Red and oreange areas indicate algal blooms.