thedrifter
09-29-07, 11:44 AM
Indiana creek cleanup yields WWII munitions
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Sep 29, 2007 9:06:00 EDT
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — Volunteers who helped clean up a stream pulled more than just debris from its waters: They also stumbled across several hundred pounds of World War II-era military munitions.
Mayor Chuck Oberlie, who helped with the Aug. 4 cleanup of Trail Creek, said Thursday that the munitions were among about the 15.5 tons of metal debris volunteers pulled from the Lake Michigan tributary and its banks.
“When we first started pulling it out, it was scary,” Oberlie said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was involved in a second cleanup of the site Sept. 20.
Among the munitions collected to date are 160 artillery shells that Army Corps spokesman Jeffrey Brewer said apparently date to World War II.
“It’s old stuff,” said Brewer. “We’re talking World War II-era stuff.”
During World War II, the Navy used Michigan City’s Naval Armory as a gunnery school, but it’s unclear if the munitions found are related to the armory’s role in the war.
Oberlie said the city contacted the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy after the munitions were discovered. Both said the material posed no explosive risk.
Most of the shells removed from Trail Creek were hollow or had a hole in them, he said.
The Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement that the shells were debris from practice munitions and did not pose an explosive hazard to the public or the environment.
Ellie
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Sep 29, 2007 9:06:00 EDT
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — Volunteers who helped clean up a stream pulled more than just debris from its waters: They also stumbled across several hundred pounds of World War II-era military munitions.
Mayor Chuck Oberlie, who helped with the Aug. 4 cleanup of Trail Creek, said Thursday that the munitions were among about the 15.5 tons of metal debris volunteers pulled from the Lake Michigan tributary and its banks.
“When we first started pulling it out, it was scary,” Oberlie said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was involved in a second cleanup of the site Sept. 20.
Among the munitions collected to date are 160 artillery shells that Army Corps spokesman Jeffrey Brewer said apparently date to World War II.
“It’s old stuff,” said Brewer. “We’re talking World War II-era stuff.”
During World War II, the Navy used Michigan City’s Naval Armory as a gunnery school, but it’s unclear if the munitions found are related to the armory’s role in the war.
Oberlie said the city contacted the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy after the munitions were discovered. Both said the material posed no explosive risk.
Most of the shells removed from Trail Creek were hollow or had a hole in them, he said.
The Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement that the shells were debris from practice munitions and did not pose an explosive hazard to the public or the environment.
Ellie