[CPEO-MEF] UXO stories

[jeff.edson@state.co.us]

a couple of recent events that some folks may not of heard about:

LOS ANGELES
Navy Shell Explodes; Metal Chunk Falls at High School
One exploded while being dismantled and sent a chunk of metal onto a 
school campus.
	
By Kenneth Reich, Times Staff Writer


More than 200 Navy shells were removed Tuesday from a Watts-area 
recycling center after one exploded and launched a chunk of metal onto 
the
campus of neighboring Jordan High School.

No students were in the schoolyard when the projectile, which 
authorities said may have been a 155-millimeter shell, flew 1,500 feet 
before
hitting around noon Monday, shortly before a student break was to begin.
  	
The only reported injury was minor and was suffered by a visitor at the 
Atlas Iron & Metal Recycling Center.

Alarmed officials evacuated more than 2,500 students from the school, 
which remained closed Tuesday. It is scheduled to reopen today.

The shells had been certified as "inert," and were being dismantled when 
the explosion occurred.

[THE LA TIMES REQUIRES REGISTRATION TO VIEW THIS STORY.  REGISTRATION IS 
QUICK AND SIMPLE.  THE COMPLETE ARTICLE CAN BE VIEWED AT:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jordan11dec11.story?null ]


TIMELOC/211915ZNOV2002/INDIAN HEAD MD/INIT//

INCIDENT IDENTIFICATION AND DETAILS/AS PART OF AN EFACHES ROICC CONTRACT 
TO CONDUCT AN ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN-UP OF BASE SCRAP YARD, SHAW 
ENVIRONMENTAL AND INFRASTRUCTURE INC (DOING BUSINESS AS OHM REMEDIATION 
SERVICES PERSONNEL WERE CUTTING UP SCRAP MATERIAL TO FACILITATE 
REMOVAL.  TWO CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL WERE IN THE SCRAP YARD
CONDUCTING OPERATIONS WITH ONE INDIVIDUAL CUTTING MATERIAL AND ANOTHER 
PREPPING MATERIAL FOR CUTTING.  A 36 YEAR OLD MALE PLACED A CERTIFIED 
INERT 90 MM PROJECTILE ON THE GROUND AND THEN SQUATTED DOWN TO BEGIN 
CUTTING.  WHEN THE CUTTING TORCH WAS APPLIED TO THE PROJECTILE IT 
EXPLODED.  BASE FIRE AND RESCUE SQUAD FOUND THE INDIVIDUAL ABOUT FIVE
FEET FROM THE INITIATION POINT WITH BURNS AND SHRAPNEL INJURIES, SEVERE 
DAMAGE TO LEFT ANKLE, TOES MANGLED, AND NO
PULSE IN THE LOWER LEFT EXTREMITY.  PATIENT STABILIZED AT THE SCENE AND, 
DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS, TRANSPORTED VIA AMBULANCE (VICE HELO) TO 
HOSPITAL.  PATIENT WAS FURTHER STABILIZED AT HOSPITAL AND THEN 
TRANSFERRED VIA AMBULANCE TO WASHINGTON TRAUMA CENTER FOR TREATMENT.
SECOND INDIVIDUAL (40 YEAR OLD MALE) PREPARING MATERIAL FOR CUTTING WAS 
STANDING APPROXIMATELY 10 FEET FROM INCIDENT AND RECEIVED MINOR SHRAPNEL 
INJURIES TO THE FACE.  HE WAS TRANSPORTED TO LOCAL HOSPITAL AND HAS 
SINCE BEEN RELEASED.   JAGMAN AND SAFETY INVESTIGATIONS TO BE CONDUCTED 
BY EFACHES WITH ASSISTANCE FROM NSWC IHDIV EXPLOSIVE SAFETY 
PERSONNEL.    RMKS/LAST REPORT THIS INCIDENT.



Jeff Edson
Manager, Remediation and Restoration Unit
Federal Facilities Program
Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
Denver, CO 80246-1530
(303) 692-3388 phone
(303) 691-7761 fax

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