Hot Tub Install Delayed Due To UXO

Monterey, California A man digging a trench in his yard for a hot tub struck several vintage bottles and then something a bit more disconcerting. The 6 x 3 inch metal cylinder which he described as heavy and coated in a black, powdery material, turned out to be an old mortar round.

The Monterey County bomb squad responded, secured the area, and used a robot to remove the ordnance from the yard. The round was then transported by the bomb squad for off-site disposal. Eight houses in the area had to be evacuated during the removal of the UXO.

Fort Ord is in the Monterey area but it's unknown if the UXO originated from there or how it ended up in the residential lot.

Nude Beach Closed Due to Explosives Hazards

Maui, Hawaii Seeing scary naked people on the beach is just one "hazard" of Little Beach, a well-known nudist hangout in Maui. Authorities from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of State Parks temporarily closed the beach for an investigation following the discovery of a blasting materials at the beach.

A U.S. Army EOD team was called in to investigate who determined that item in question was shock tube. The shock tube was a remnant from a rockfall mitigation project in the 1990's. The shock tube was determined to be expended therefore not creating an explosives safety hazard. EOD searched the area nearby for more material but none was found. The beach has was reopened to the public.

EOD Disposal Efforts Nothing to Cluck At

Brownsville, Texas Soldiers from two Texas-based EOD units teamed up to clear two land mines, but not before ensuring the safety of area residents and some chicken as well!

Homeowners in Brownsville, 100 miles northwest of Fort Hood, discovered one of the mines buried in a dirt road. Members of the 79th EOD Battalion responded to the scene where they found a vintage WWII M6 anti-tank mine and a detonated practice M1B1 mine.

Officials determined that the M6 mine was unstable and used a thermite charge to render explosives in the mine safe. They also carried out a controlled detonation to dispose of the other mine.

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Blasts Along Bluffs Surprise Unsuspecting Residents

Sequim, Washington Residents in the area of Dungeness Landing Park were startled by three explosions, followed by smoke billowing above the bluffs. They were unaware that members of the 129th EOD Company from Joint Base Lewis-McChord had been called in to destroy several pieces of ordnance that washed ashore on the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.

The ordnance, identified by EOD as marine markers, were reportedly fired during military training operations in the area. The EOD response was the second response by EOD in area over the past week. The other call was also to dispose of munitions that washed ashore.

EOD Responds to Metal Recycling Facility

Elizabethton, Tennessee Workers at OmniSource metal recycling facility called the police after finding a suspicious device with wires sticking out of it mixed in with scrap metal being recycled. The Johnson City Police Department responded with technical support provided by a Navy EOD team.

EOD identified the item as Navy smoke screen generator. It was safely removed from the scene for disposal. Authorities tracked down the man who dropped off the scrap pile who claimed the device was mixed in with scrap metal in an old barn that he was clearing out.

Fishing Vessel Catches Mustard Round

Bornholm, Denmark A Danish fishing boat fishing off the island of Bornholm recovered more than just fish when they brought up a WWII era mustard filled round from the Baltic Sea. The Captain of the vessel radioed the find to authorities who rendezvoused with the boat as it docked in the harbor in the town of Nexo. A Danish Navy EOD Team along with a crew from the Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) inspected and removed the round which was identified as a WWII era mustard round (size and exact type not reported).

After the round was removed, DEMA personnel decontaminated the boat despite the fact the round was reportedly in well preserved condition with no apparent leaks. The decontamination exercise included disposing of the day's catch inside the hold just in case the round leaked.


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