Unexploded munitions cleared at Vieques

[unhappycamper]

Contractors stand by their trucks near a pile of military ordnance collected at the former Vieques Naval Training Range. The Navy has set aside $200 million for the cleanup on Vieques, authorities announced last month. The Navy previously used Vieques as its main Atlantic training site, combining air, sea and land maneuvers.


Unexploded munitions cleared at Vieques
By Yaisha Vargas - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Apr 18, 2008 8:29:23 EDT

VIEQUES, Puerto Rico — Observers winced as workers gave the signal Thursday to detonate a pile of old mortar shells and unexploded munitions on this former Navy bombing range that was once the focus of heated protest.

“Fire in the area!” came the shout as the first of four controlled blasts shook the ground, as the Navy began its cleanup project in Vieques, a tiny island of 9,000 residents, ringed by beaches and turquoise waters east of mainland Puerto Rico.

The 2,647 pounds of weaponry destroyed Thursday is a fiery reminder of the Naval Training Range, which was hammered for decades with live rounds from warships and planes, and is now scattered with piles of mangled metal.

The Navy finally agreed to close the range in April 2003, after years of protests against the danger and din of the practice bombing. But thousands of unexploded munitions were left behind, lurking under tropical foliage.

Now, contract workers are methodically clearing the site, overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency. The effort, begun in 2005, could take 10 years, and the Navy has set aside $200 million, officials said.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_vieques_041808/