Munitions Debris Dredged Up During Beach Replenishment

Bethany Beach, Delaware  Several inert .50 caliber ammunition cartridge casings and a variety of small sized munitions debris fragments were discovered during an on-going beach replenishment project along the Delaware shoreline. The USACE have apparently learned their lesson from the Surf City, New Jersey beach replenishment project and have implemented screens at booth the intake and outlet pipes at the Delaware project to ensure that no large objects or anomalies that could potentially be UXO get pumped up with the sand.

The small arms cartridges and munitions debris discovered pose no explosive safety hazard and were removed from the sand prior to it being placed along the beach. The munitions debris find however, does strengthen the need for a more robust inventory of UXO and munitions sites and for the use of screens at all dredging projects in known or suspected munitions areas.

The Delaware beach replenishment project spans 3 miles from northern Bethany Beach to the Fenwick Island State Park. It is estimated that over 3 million cubic yards of sand will be moved to replenish the beach and to create sand dunes along the shoreline.