Welcome to UXOInfo.com's free monthly E-Newsletter on Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). UXOInfo.com is the largest site on the Internet for UXO related news and information. If you have not checked out the UXOInfo.com website, we encourage you to do so at www.uxoinfo.com. In addition to bringing you the latest UXO news and information, the UXOInfo.com website also provides the following:

• UXO Resume Response Line
• Ordnance / UXO Photo Gallery
• UXO Document Library

• UXO Help Wanted
• Munitions Database
• UXO Question and Answer

The UXO E-Newsletter is issued monthly to provide the industry with important news and information related to UXO. For information on how to advertise in future UXO E-Newsletters please email the UXOInfo.com Marketing Coordinator, Ms. Jenna Coven at jenna@uxoinfo.com.

If you do not wish to receive the UXO E-Newsletter in the future, simply use the un-subscribe link provided at the bottom of this newsletter. If you have any questions or comments on UXOInfo.com or the UXO E-Newsletter please email them to rhonda@uxoinfo.com.

The UXO E-Newsletter and UXOInfo.com are the copyright of Ordnance Holdings, Inc. (OHI)

A Time To Give Thanks

November is a month of thanksgiving and appreciation and the perfect time to thank each of our readers for your support throughout the year. We also send out a 'Thanks' to the veterans to whom we owe so much and special 'Thanks' to EOD veterans and their families for their service and support.

This month we seem to have come across a number of incidents of grenade finds, including a strange one behind a 99-cent store and another which led to the evacuation of a school. Other articles include a conclusion to a court case involving a private developer and UXO, an international UXO clearance operation on the Solomon Islands, and various articles of UXO finds from across the globe.

We also have our monthly "This Old Ordnance" article, which, by-the-way we would love to invite our readers to contribute to in the coming months. Contributions and feedback make the UXO E-Newsletter and UXOInfo.com website better for all our readers. To share your own story related to UXO, please contact Rhonda Crowley at rhonda@uxoinfo.com for details on how to submit an article.

UXOInfo.com is brought to you by Ordnance Holdings, Inc. (OHI), a Hub Zone certified small business - please keep us in mind to support your next UXO project from consulting and UXO construction support to full-service UXO remediation and removals. For more information on OHI's capabilities and services, please visit our website at www.ordnanceholdings.com. Finally, when it comes to UXO, please remember the 3R's of Recognize, Retreat, Report.

Courts Deny Developer's Claim for UXO Remediation Costs

Cranbury, New Jersey During World War II and the Korean War, Unexcelled Manufacturing Co. operated a munitions factory where bombs, anti-aircraft ammunition, grenade fuzes, and other weapons were produced for the U.S. military. In 1954, a warehouse at the site containing hundreds of thousands of grenade fuzes exploded killing two and injuring several others. Although the military sent soldiers from nearby Fort Dix to assist with the cleanup, hazardous materials and UXO remained at the site. Soon after the incident, the factory shut down but UXO and chemical pollution remained at the site.

Twenty years later (mid 1970's), Cranbury Development Corp. bought the site. Thirty years after that, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) completed an investigation of the site. NJDEP issued a directive identifying the following as responsible parties for the site's contamination: Cranbury Development (the site's owner), Maxxam Group, Inc. (the successor to Unexcelled Manufacturing), and the U.S. Navy (which had funded and effectively controlled the site). NJDEP directed them to "memorialize their commitment to perform the remediation in an Administrative Consent Order." However, the Navy rebuffed NJDEP and refused to take part.

In 2005, Cranbury Development and Maxxam entered into a Consent Order with NJDEP. The Consent Order did three things: First, Cranbury Development and Maxxam agreed to clean up the site. Second, NJDEP agreed not to sue them if they complied. Third, all the parties agreed that the "Consent Order constituted an administrative settlement within the meaning of CERCLA" and "resolved the liability of [Cranbury Development] and Maxxam to the State of New Jersey for some or all of" the cleanup costs.

In early 2006, Cranbury Brick Yard (CBY) bought the site from Cranbury Development with plans to redevelop it into commercial warehouses. Rather than strike its own deal with NJDEP, CBY agreed to join the existing agreement. So, the Consent Order was amended to "remove Cranbury Development" and "replace" it with CBY as a Respondent. In 2013, CBY began cleaning up the site of UXO and other pollutants. The cleanup ran into some technical problems including the accidental puncturing of an underground storage tank (UST) resulting in 20 gallons of petroleum leaking into the area. The contaminated dirt was mixed with clean dirt and reburied on-site.

In April 2015, nine years after joining the Consent Order but just over two years after it began the cleanup, CBY sued the federal government under a CERCLA cost recovery claim. It claimed that the Navy was responsible for some of the estimated $50M UXO and contaminant cleanup costs because the military was partly responsible for the site's contamination. The Government argued that CBY was partially responsible for contaminating the site from the punctured UST incident. CBY argued that they were immune from being attributed to site contamination under the Consent Order.

The Court ruled in favor of the Navy stating that CBY had made its CERCLA cost recovery claim after the statute of limitations expired (which was 3 years from when the parties signed the Consent Order Amendment). The court also found that CBY could not claim immunity since "reburying of contaminated dirt on-site amounted to a disposal" and since it happened after CBY acquired the site, that it therefore "lost its status as a bona fide prospective purchaser."

Download the Third Circuit’s opinion in Cranbury Brick Yard, LLC v. United States, No. 18-3287 (3rd Cir. Nov. 22, 2019) from UXOInfo.com.

Joint Effort To Clear Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands New Zealand's Defense Force (NZDF) deployed 21 EOD Technicians to Solomon Islands to aid in the removal of WWII era UXO. The two week deployment focused on reconnaissance and removal on the island of Kohingo.

NZDF assisted both Australian Defense Force and Royal Solomon Islands Police Force personnel in land-based as well as underwater operations.

The NZDF last supported such an operation in 2016, when a unit worked with a Canadian detachment to destroy 50 unexploded WWII-era munitions, including a 250-pound bomb.

UXO Removed from Scottish Scrap Yard Shed

Creca, Scotland Police were called to a scrap yard after the owner reported a suspicious device in the corner of a shed several days after it was initially found.

Describing the incident to local news media, the owner stated, "I've found similar stuff before so [I] wasn't concerned. Then on Monday I had a good look at it again, the bottom was still on it, it was intact."

After which he notified police who in turn alerted an EOD team who responded and relocated the UXO to Redkirk beach where it was safely disposed of through a controlled detonation.

WWII Era Hand Grenade Prompts School Evacuation

Vienna, Austria A pre-school had to be evacuated after a WW II hand grenade was found inside a tree at the school's playground. A worker at the school was the first to discover the grenade which was wedged in a tree in a garden on school grounds.

The police were contacted who responded and confirmed that the item was a munition. An Army bomb disposal team was called in to remove and dispose of the hand grenade. A local police spokesperson told reporters covering the incident that "The children were not in any danger at any time.”

November 2019

Practical Military Ordnance Identification (2nd Edition)

Author Tom Gersbeck's book - 'Practical Military Ordnance Identification' (2nd edition) focuses on the application of a practical deductive process to identify unknown ordnance items commonly recovered outside military control. In the book, Tom describes a seven-step procedure to identify unknown munitions by their category, group, and type. Detailed logic trees help users narrow down the possibilities in order to accurately identify ordnance. The book also covers safety precautions, describes ordnance construction characteristics, and explains the fundamentals of military ordnance fuzing.

'Practical Military Ordnance Identification' is written for Public Safety Bomb Technicians, SWAT personnel, Explosives Detection Canine (EDC) handlers, emergency management personnel, beach and park patrol units, forensic laboratory staff, Evidence Response Teams (ERT), UXO technicians, Deminers, Coast Guard personnel, archaeologists, all military personnel and other first responders; as well as history enthusiasts, museum employees, and those studying these fields. The easy-to-follow, step-by-step means of applying a practical deductive process to identifying ordnance outlined in this book was written with these professionals in mind.

Order "Practical Military Ordnance Identification" (2nd edition) today from Amazon.com, BN.com, or other online book retailer.

For any queries please contact the author at Tom212021@outlook.com.

UXO-Related History Remembered

340 LBS, T19 Frag Bomb - 1945

This month we examine an excerpt from a declassified April 1945 Manual from the Office of the Chief of Ordnance titled Recently Developed Ordnance Materiel that includes a summary of the Bomb, Fragmentation, 340-lb., T19.

The 1945 manual contained the following three paragraphs on the T19:

"The 220-lb., M88 Fragmentation Bomb, equipped with a fin and non-delay fuze is suitable for releasing from altitudes high enough to keep the releasing airplane out of range of the fragments. However, it is desirable in many cases to drop heavy fragmentation bombs from low altitudes such as when the target cannot be penetrated by fragments from the 20-lb and 90-lb fragmentation bombs. The T19 bomb consists of the M88 Fragmentation Bomb, equipped with the AN-M120A1 fuze, and a 250-inch diameter Nylon parachute, inclosed [enclosed] in a 12-inch diameter by 2-inch diameter container. The parachute is made of 6.5 ounce Nylon cloth, and equipped with 22 two thousand pound test Nylon shroud lines."

"The military characteristics for the subject bomb are essentially the same as for the 23-lb. M40 and the 90-lb. M86 standard parachute fragmentation bombs, in that the bomb must have a rate of descent slow enough to allow the nose fuze to arm before impact, and the unit must be capable of withstanding release at speeds up to 350 miles per hour. Tests conducted so far indicate that the T19 bomb will satisfactorily meet these requirements."

"The Bomb, Fragmentation, 340-lb., T19 is at present undergoing engineering test. It is anticipated that the units will soon be ready for service tests in the near future."

If you have any UXO history you would like to share including documents, images, and/or articles for posting, please send them to Rhonda at rhonda@uxoinfo.com.

UXO Support Services by Ordnance Holdings, Inc.(OHI)

Ordnance Holdings, Inc. (OHI) - developer and operator of UXOInfo.com, is a small certified HUB Zone business, specializing in providing UXO, MMRP, and explosives safety related services.

Services provided by OHI include:

• UXO Construction Support / Anomaly Avoidance
• Dredging Support
• UXO Technician Staffing
• GIS/Mapping Services
• Archival Research

For more information on OHI, please visit our recently updated - website or contact OHI's Client Relations Manager, Jenna Perman: (O) 443.522.2933 (C) 443.857.7474 (E) jenna@ordnanceholdings.com.

About FLIR's Unmanned Ground Systems

A unit of FLIR Systems, Inc., FLIR Unmanned Ground Systems is the world's leading provider of battle-tested Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs). We partner with U.S. and international military, law enforcement and industrial users to design and build technologically advanced robots that support a wide range of missions. Whether it's a roadside bomb on the battlefield, a suspicious package on the subway, or a potential hazmat situation, our robots help keep troops, first responders, and the public safe.

FLIR has delivered more than 7,000 UGVs to customers in over 55 countries. Ranging in size from five to 500 pounds, our trusted robots have been used countless times in the field to provide a greater stand-off distance from danger. Using an array of sensors, they gather valuable intelligence so decision-makers can better understand the situation and respond to possible threats. Our family of UGVs are modular, adaptable, easy-to-use, and meet or exceed the needs of operators in any uniform.

MuniRem Environmental (MRE) is an industry leader in providing chemistry that near instantly neutralize and destroys explosives and other energetics to non-hazardous end products. MuniRem degrades energetics and chemical warfare materiel (CWM), while stabilizing heavy metals as the insoluble metal sulfides. MuniRem is recognized as a safer and faster solution for removing explosive risks from different materials.

MRE's award winning innovative green solutions are delivered to its private industry and government clients by highly qualified, dedicated and driven staff of engineers, scientists and UXO professionals. MuniRem has been applied at diverse Munitions and Explosives of concern (MEC) project sites in the United States and internationally.

MuniRem has been applied to:

• Instantly neutralize bulk explosives
• Destroy mustard and other chemical warfare materiel to non-hazardous products
• Decontaminate explosives contaminated buildings, pipes, equipment and range scrap
• Remove explosive risks ahead of UXO Tech response
• Neutralize recovered underwater munitions on-site
• Remediate explosives contaminated soil and groundwater
• Clean explosives manufacturing plants and indoor training ranges
• Destroy explosives in spent activated carbon
• Destroy chlorinated organics (e.g., HCB, PCBs, TCE, PCE, etc.)
• Remediation of metals (AL, As, Ba, Ca, Cr(IV), Hg, Pb, U, etc.) by stabilization as insoluble metal sulfides

For more information on Tripwire Operations Group please contact:
Ryan J. Morris, M.A.
Email: RJM@TRIPWIREOPS.ORG Website: http://www.tripwireops.org/
Tripwire Operations Group, LLC.- 1685 Baltimore Pike - Gettysburg, PA 17325
Office: 888-330-7015 Direct: 717-648-2792 Fax: 717-334-6391 Google Voice: 202-573-8105

For an overview on Tripwire please Click Here.

Like Us on Facebook.

For information on Corporate Sponsorships, please contact UXOInfo.com's Marketing Coordinator, Jenna Perman at jenna@uxoinfo.com or (443)857-7474.

High Tide Hinders Detonation of Corroded, Beached Ordnance

Mexico Beach, Florida Tyndall Air Force Base EOD responded to the Mexico Beach, Port St. Joe area for a corroded cluster of heavily corroded suspect WWII-era ordnance that washed ashore.

EOD attempted to perform an in-place demolition / disposal of the items but the shot had to be called off due to the rising high tide.

After the tide succeeded, EOD re-set the shot and were able to successfully dispose of the suspect UXO items.

EOD conducted a sweep of the nearby area but no other ordnance was found.

Attention UXO Technicians - Sign Up to Receive UXO Job / Position Announcements

UXO Technicians - sign up today to receive free email announcements of UXO related job opportunities and positions from UXOInfo.com.

The service is free and open to all UXO Technicians. To sign up please complete the on-line form or simply text UXOINFO to 22828.

UXO related positions are sent to your email automatically and you can unsubscribe at any time. The service is free so please share the link with others.

Schonstedt Magnetic Locators Support Somalia Demining Efforts

How the Schonstedt Humanitarian Demining Initiative is Helping to Save Lives Worldwide:

Kearneysville, West Virginia In collaboration with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), four Magnetic Locators from Schonstedt Instrument Company have deployed to Somalia, approximately 6 miles north of the nation's capital, Mogadishu, to locate explosive remnants of war (ERW).

The Daynile district, located in the Banaadir region of Somalia, encompasses the northern outskirts of the nation's capital, Mogadishu. Approximately 6 miles north of the central part of Mogadishu also lies a former ammunition storage site.

At the site, most ammunition bunkers were destroyed, and some of them collapsed inward, leaving approximately 98 acres of land (400,000 m2) contaminated with explosive hazards. Located near an airstrip, the site may also become a relocation site for Internally Displaced Persons.

Initial clearance operations cleared more than 20,300 ERW, but additional ERW likely remain buried beneath the collapsed bunkers and surrounding areas. With UNMAS-supported demining teams conducting further clearance operations, Schonstedt GA-72Cd Magnetic Locators will aid in the detection and clearance of remaining ERW and other UXO (Unexploded Ordnance).

Article continued on UXOInfo.com.