[CPEO-MEF] Beale ordnance mapping done

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Beale ordnance mapping done
Information will be analyzed to find out the best method for cleaning up 
acreage.

By Tom Nadeau -- Bee Correspondent
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Sunday, August 11, 2002
Ordnance experts have finished mapping property outside Beale Air Force 
Base where buried World War II ammunition could threaten development in 
fast-growing south Yuba County.

The land is part of the former Camp Beale, which was an 87,000-acre 
training base for 40,000 recruits in armored combat units, said Arthur 
R. Smith, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ordnance safety expert.

The area, near Camp Far West Reservoir east of Wheatland and just across 
the Placer County line, also was a bombing range, Smith said.

"Anything that could be dropped, fired or placed is out there," he said.

Initial estimates indicate cleanup could cost $200 million and take up 
to 20 years. Actual removal of any mortars, bombs, mines, grenades or 
rockets is not expected to start until 2004, said project manager Karol 
Ward.

This article can be viewed in its entirety at:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/california/story/3939893p-4965436c.html

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