[CPEO-MEF] Bombs dot Utah deserts

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Bombs dot Utah deserts 
By Stephen Speckman and Brady Snyder
Deseret News staff writers 

Campers in southern Utah find an old projectile from a grenade launcher, 
throw it into a fire ? and it blows up, injuring those nearby.

It almost sounds like a joke, but it happened, according to a government 
report on unexploded ordnance and debris left behind throughout the West 
? including Utah ? from military tests and aircraft crashes dating back 
to World War II.

While those campers were "dumber than dirt" for doing what they did, the 
federal government is becoming increasingly concerned about the 
possibility of humans mixing with live ordnance on public land, says 
Bureau of Land Management Salt Lake field office manager Glenn 
Carpenter.

The heightened awareness of potential injuries stems from what the BLM 
knows, and doesn't know, is out there.

"It is serious," Carpenter said. "But we don't know how serious. We 
certainly need to inform the public of the potential dangers."     

A 1994 federal government report said that in the United States the 
potential for unexploded ordnance existed on more than 7 million acres 
of public land managed by five agencies, including the BLM, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife and the National Park Service. Most of that land is located 
in the West, including Nevada, Arizona, Southern California and Utah. 
It's unclear how much of that land has been cleaned up or cleared of 
military-caused dangers.

But officials have a better idea of the hazards now, thanks to a new 
report generated by Hill Air Force Base's environmental division.

The report is in part an inventory of where the military has conducted 
exercises throughout the West, including specific sites in Utah where 
ordnance was left behind, possibly cleaned up or may still exist 
unexploded.

The entire article can be viewed at:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%2C380014007%2C00.html

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