Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Explosives buried for years to be moved

The Army Corps of Engineers will begin excavating thousands of "anomalies" found underground that might be leftovers at the Brooksville Turret Gunnery Range.

By LOGAN NEILL
Published October 27, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - After years of waiting, Wayne Johnson and other residents living on an abandoned World War II artillery range west of Brooksville are finally getting some good news:

The Army Corps of Engineers next month will begin digging up explosives still buried on their properties.

About 40 residents turned out for a public meeting Tuesday night at Central High School to learn details of a proposed cleanup of two 1-square-mile parcels that were once part of the Brooksville Turret Gunnery Range.

Corps project manager Terry Steuart said a private company specializing in ordnance removal will begin Nov. 17 excavating about 4,740 "anomalies" that were discovered during a two-month underground study of the area. Although the majority of the buried objects are not thought to contain explosives, Steuart said, any live ordnance that is found will be destroyed.

Tuesday's announcement came weeks after the corps wrapped up a three-year study of the sites along Montour and Webster streets, both of which are off Weeping Willow Street, north of State Road 50, between High Point and Brookridge.

Using high-powered metal detectors, geologists were able to pinpoint thousands of metal objects within a depth of about 2 feet. However, because the machines were unable to distinguish between hazardous and nonhazardous items, each object must be dug up and inspected.

"We want to be thorough, and that's going to take some time," said Frank Czajkowski, project manager for ECC, the company that will handle the excavation and disposal operation. "When we're finished, we hope that it brings peace of mind to these residents."

Czajkowski said residents will be notified in advance of crews arriving on their property. For safety, residents will taken to a hospitality site while workers retrieve the buried objects. If any are explosives are found, they will be detonated inside of specially built bunkers. Czajkowski expects the project to be complete in March.

Although the announcement of the cleanup was welcomed by many residents, others wondered why it has taken so long.

"From what I understand, this has been going on for decades," said Steve Ashmore, who has lived in the area for two years. "It kind of makes you wonder what they've been waiting for."

After scouring the display of aerial photographs scattered with red dots showing where target objects were found, Johnson shook his head.

"Absolutely amazing," the 64-year-old retiree said. "I don't think anybody knew there were that many out there."

Johnson, who once found an unexploded bazooka rocket on his property, said he wonders why the cleanup effort didn't include the possibility of soil and water contamination by chemicals from explosives.

"I have EPA reports that show all kinds of different chemicals in the soil," Johnson said. "They don't seem to have a clue what to do about it."

Ricardo Vasquez, a project engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers in Jacksonville, said that because of budget constraints, the focus of the cleanup was directed toward ordnance removal.

"If there are some issues of toxic chemicals," Vasquez said, "then we will look at them."

Logan Neill can be reached at lneill@sptimes.com or 352 848-1435.

[Last modified October 27, 2005, 01:28:19]