[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS, FORMER SITES: Melbourne Bombing and Gunnery Range (FL)

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Army report finds low risk from World War II-era bombing range in  
near Melbourne
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans cleanup, requests public input

By JIM WAYMER
Florida Today
June 21, 2011

Before they bombed the Germans or Japanese, World War II Navy fighter  
pilots buzzed and bombed alligator-infested marshes just east of Lake  
Hell 'n' Blazes, about 10 miles southwest of Melbourne.

From Grumman F4F Wildcats and F6F Hellcats, they dropped 4-pound  
bombs and small rockets that could have left behind traces of copper,  
lead, nitroglycerin and other contaminants.

Between 1943 and 1946, pilots took off from what is now Melbourne  
International Airport, where military men also had fired small-arms  
ammunition.

Army officials this month released early environmental inspection  
reports of the two sites: The airport came up mostly clean, but a  
consultant found very low contamination and risk of human or  
ecological harm at the former Melbourne Bombing and Gunnery Range.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110621/NEWS01/106210322/Airport- 
bombing-range-low-risk-from-World-War-II-era-munitions

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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