Federal authorities say they will survey an area off Wai'anae starting next week to assess dangers posed by decades-old munitions lying on the ocean floor.

The military will decide what to do about the weapons in Ordnance Reef, as the area is known, after the study is finished, said Christopher Rodney, a spokesman for U.S. Army Pacific.

He said the military won't retrieve the weapons during the survey because the two-week project is designed to study, not clear, the area.

An Army analysis of archived records earlier this year concluded over 2,000 conventional munitions were lying in Ordnance Reef, a spot off Poka'i Bay.