Laserfiche WebLink
have been on-site for a number of weeks and will be here additional <br />weeks. <br />Mr. Bridgers described that EOD personnel are going into the <br />area where the contractor is required to work, and to the extent <br />within their capabilities, they're giving what is called a <br />"clearance", saying they do not see anything right in that area, <br />and the contractor can move in there and start removing the horned <br />scullies. If the contractor finds something, he would notify them <br />and the EOD would go back to look and determine exactly what the <br />contractor has discovered. <br />Mr. Bridgers related that the Navy has found items, the <br />contractor has also found items and actually picked up one of the <br />items and placed it inside of his piece of equipment. It was then <br />removed by the Navy. <br />Mr. Bridgers reported that last week, for the first time, <br />there was an incident where land mines were found on the beach by <br />a local citizen, he believed. Since the Navy was in the area the <br />citizen asked them to take a look at what he found. Mr. Bridgers <br />stressed that this was the first time they have had an incident <br />such as this in the 50 years since the DOD left the area. <br />Mr. Bridgers then used a large display board which identified <br />the 15 or 16 areas where they have documented incidents where <br />ordnance has been found. Down on the south end of South Hutchinson <br />Island, 200 land mines were found buried in a trench. He believed <br />that was in 1982 and it was reported by The Miami Herald. They <br />were not laid out in a pattern as those found last week, but had <br />been collected from the beach and placed in what someone thought at <br />that time to be a "safe area". <br />Mr. Bridgers then asked Mr. Blankinship to briefly give an <br />overview or update on the status of the items of activity that <br />Huntsville was responsible for working on in conjunction with <br />Jacksonville, the Engineering Evaluation Cost Analysis (EECA), <br />since new information is now available. Mr. Blankinship will be <br />working with him to determine what they need to do next based upon <br />this new information. <br />Karl Blankinship advised that Huntsville is the center of <br />expertise for the Corps of Engineers as it relates to ordnance and <br />explosive wastes. They have a large group of "ex-EOD", explosives - <br />trained people retired from the military, on their staff. They <br />supplement the district or division personnel in the district with <br />the technical expertise to safely handle ordnance items on any <br />project within the United States or U.S. territory. <br />76n <br />m <br />January 21, 1997 <br />