Oro Grande, California Recreational ATV riders utilizing property owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) came across a UXO item. The riders called police who responded with technical support provided by the Holloman Air Force Base 49th Fighter Wing EOD unit.

The UXO was safely disposed of without incident through open detonation (see image below). The exact type of UXO was not reported.

Auchencairn, Scotland a local resident found a box of grenades partially buried near the edge of a wooded area near a farm building. The man called the police who responded to the scene. Since the grenades were military ordnance, the police shot some photos of the items and emailed them to the Royal Military for technical advice. After viewing the images, the Royal Military concluded that the items were too dangerous to move and then dispatched an EOD team from Faslane Naval Base to provide technical support.

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Washington, D.C. DoD has reissued its policy Instruction (DoDI) 4140.62 on Material Potentially Presenting an Explosive Hazard (MPPEH). The policy is a re-issue of the policy initially issued back in December of 2004. The updated policy introduces at least two new acronyms (MDEH and MDAS) and includes an enclosure that outlines specific procedures for the management of MPPEH. Some of the key changes that will impact the UXO industry are outlined below.

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London, United Kingdom an executive director of a printing firm was surprised when he learned that his paperweight that he had been keeping on his desk for the past several years was actually a UXO. The 1-foot long cylindrical metallic object was given to the director as a gift from a friend who pulled the item up from the seabed while diving off the South Coast.

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Woodburn, Oregon State police received a bomb threat call for a Wells Fargo Bank. Authorities responded and conducted a search of the bank but found no IEDs. The search was then expanded to nearby banks where an IED was found outside of the West Coast Bank. The Oregon State Police Bomb Squad provided technical support during the IED response. For some unknown reason, the bomb squad decided to move the IED found just outside to inside of the bank. Sometime during the process of relocating the bomb it exploded killing a local police officer and a state bomb disposal technician and critically injuring the Woodburn chief of police.

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Baltimore, Maryland workers renovating the Maryland National Guard armory building uncovered an old mortar round in the basement of the 100-year building. The mortar round was found while workers were examining old pipes. The Baltimore City bomb squad was called to investigate the find. Since the item was military in nature, the bomb squad called the EOD unit based in Fort Meade for technical support. The mortar was safely removed and transported off-site by military EOD without incident. It's unclear how the munition ended up in the Armory, as there is no history of the building ever being used a munitions storage area.

Ayrshire, United Kingdom Divers working on the Largs Promenade Ferry Pier discovered an unexploded torpedo buried within the underwater structure of the pier. The workers called the Royal Navy to report their unusual and potentially dangerous find. The Royal Navy dispatched an EOD team from Faslane Naval Base to respond and provide technical support. The pier was closed and a 100-meter safe area was established during the 4-hour incident.

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Worcester, Massachusetts Workers at the Wal-Mart construction site located off Route 146 uncovered an 18-inch artillery shell and other munitions during construction activities. The workers reported the find to the police who responded with a Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad unit. The total number and types of munitions uncovered at the site were not reported. The site was once home to a steel foundry which may explain how the ordnance ended up at the site.

In September 2008, Schonstedt Instrument Company and its customers donated thirty demining instruments to the Mine Action Centre for Testing, Development and Training (HCR-CTRO) in Zagreb, Croatia. There they were tested, accredited and integrated into a new training curriculum, with plans to further distribute them to UN Mine Action Programmes throughout the region.

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