[CPEO-MEF] Search on for weapons in woods

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Florida
Search on for weapons in woods
By Bruce Ritchie
TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT
May 10, 2003

Contractors will begin searching the woods of eastern Franklin County on
Monday for unexploded World War II-era weapons.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is directing the search and removal of
weapons from former Camp Gordon Johnston training sites off U.S. Highway
98, near Lanark Village, where soldiers trained with live hand grenades
and practice land mines.

"I think it's a good thing," said Franklin County Commissioner Cheryl
Sanders, who represents the area, of the planned search and removal.
"You don't want anybody to go out and hurt themselves."

A live grenade and shrapnel were found in 2000 on 54 acres, known as
Area B, just east of the intersection of U.S. Highway 319 and U.S. 98,
said Robert Bridgers, a program manager in the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers district office in Jacksonville.

The grenades and other weapons are as dangerous now as they were when
the soldiers trained at Camp Gordon Johnston from 1942 to 1946, say the
agency's contractor. The camp and its training grounds covered 159,348
acres in eastern Franklin County.

Practice land mines were used at Area B and at a 105-acre site off U.S.
98 at the intersection of Crooked River Road. The practice mines
contained small explosive charges that could cause harm if they go off
while being handled.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/local/5828547.htm

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