Current Activities & Progress
The Hawai‘i Undersea Military Munitions Assessment project team conducted a side-scan SONAR 
investigation of the study area in August, 2008. The purpose of this investigation was to conduct a full sweep of the project area to compile an inventory of foreign objects on the seafloor. Thousands of man-made objects were detected, including several scatter fields of multiple potential munitions objects within the survey area.
In early March, 2009, the HUMMA project team revisited the area with remotely operated underwater vehicles and three-man research submarines to dive directly down to the identified disposal sites and to confirm the presence of disposed military munitions. Munitions were found in trails, which confirmed the hypothesis that munitions were dumped off ships as they steamed forward. Any munitions object 
encountered during this investigation was visually assessed for casing integrity and records were sent off to experts for munitions type identification. Water and seafloor sediment samples were collected in the vicinity of the identified disposal sites and at control sites away from the identified disposal sites. Samples were shipped to mainland laboratories for analysis for explosives and chemical agents and their breakdown products to assess any potential impact of the undersea munitions on human health and the environment. Additionally, The University of Hawai‘i is conducting metals analysis for the samples. After all laboratory analyses are completed, a final report will be prepared summarizing the findings made during this investigation and recommendations on whether further research is necessary or any action needs to be taken.
A separate field effort was launched in April, 2009 to collect 
human food item biota samples from where the submersibles collected water and seafloor sediment samples. Onaga and ama ebi were caught by using the same methods that commercial and recreational fishermen use. These samples were also sent to the mainland for laboratory chemical analysis.
The HUMMA Project final report has six major conclusions, which may be summarized as:
Most munitions in the HI-05 Study Area were disposed of by ships that were underway as munitions were cast overboard.
The integrity of munitions in the area spans a broad spectrum, with even the best-preserved munitions casings deteriorating at a yet-to-be determined rate. Skirts and pedestals observed at the base of munitions may be the result of rusting, possibly in combination with leakage of munitions constituents.
The analytical methods used to detect munitions constituents during the program were effective. With the exception of one unconfirmed detection of mustard, neither chemical agents nor explosives were detected in any samples.
Analysis of sediment samples collected around several munitions showed relatively little influence from human activities or man-made objects. This is significant given that the samples were taken within six feet of the munitions.
The observations and data collected do not indicate any adverse impacts on ecological health in the HI-05 Study Area.
The risk to human health from the consumption of fish and shrimp collected near the HI-05 Study Area were within Environmental Protection Agency acceptable risk levels.
Mr. Tad Davis, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health stated, "University of Hawaii‘s School of Ocean Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and the quality team it assembled exceeded our expectations performing an extremely complex study with scientific rigor. By providing the Army with demonstrated, proven procedures for characterizing and assessing a munitions disposal site, SOEST has made a significant contribution to the Department of Defense's understanding of the potential effects of historic sea disposal sites on the ocean environment and those that use it."