OLD BOMBS NEVER FADE AWAY

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

OLD BOMBS NEVER FADE AWAY
Recent discoveries at a former military range in Colorado illustrate 
the potentially enormous challenges posed by unexploded ordnance (UXO) 
throughout the United States. East of Denver lies the former 
59,000-acre Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range. Used for Army and Air 
Force target practice from World War II through Vietnam, the area is 
now owned by the State Land Board, local counties, and at least 200 
private property owners. It is home to a reservoir, fairgrounds, and farms.
Though the military cleared the surface when it left, shrapnel, small 
munitions, and bomb craters have been found on the land for years. An 
alarm was sounded in January when a farmer drove over a munition, 
triggering a fire beneath his truck. In response, the Army Corps of 
Engineers - responsible for formerly used Defense sites - sent out 
letters warning owners not to dig without first bringing in a 
professional to search for UXO.
(Denver Post, February 15, 1996)
No one has been killed by UXO at the Lowry Range, and the number of 
potentially explosive munitions may actually be small. But guaranteeing 
that the entire area is safe will difficult, if not impossible, and 
assuredly expensive.
 
There may be as many as 1,500 former munitions ranges, of various 
sizes, within the United States.
Lenny Siegel