[CPEO-MEF] World War II relics complicate cleanup at EHT Superfund site

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New Jersey
PRESS OF ATLANTIC CITY
World War II relics complicate cleanup at EHT Superfund site
By Donald Wittkowski
November 18, 2003

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - Explosives expert Wayne Lewallen opened a
vaultlike storage container, but it seemed like he was unsealing a time
capsule.

Inside was an odd collection of relics coated with dark-brown rust and
appearing centuries old. The slender objects were so badly corroded that
they resembled rotted tree branches.

A closer look revealed exactly what they were: old aircraft rockets
dating to World War II that had been discarded in a former Navy landfill
and forgotten over time.

"Don't worry,'' Lewallen said reassuringly, while gently placing the
rockets on top of the storage container Monday. "There's no explosive
hazard."

Maybe so, but cleanup crews removing the decaying shells from a
Superfund site at the former Atlantic City Naval Air Station must be
careful. So far, all of the 3-foot-long rockets have been duds - mere
training devices lacking fuses or explosives - but the next one that is
pulled from the dirt may not be.

As a safety precaution, a 200-foot buffer has been set up around the
cleanup site, now part of the Federal Aviation Administration's
5,059-acre William J. Hughes Technical Center property adjacent to
Atlantic City International Airport.

A machine operator excavating contaminated soil from the old Navy
landfill blundered upon the first rocket last June. He thought it was an
old fence post, but experts later identified it as an explosive device.
At the time, they weren't sure whether it was live, leading to some
tense moments.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/atlantic/111803ROCKETSNOV18_3RD_4TH.html

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