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Hernando Today

Residents Vent About Ammo Removal

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: September 13, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Patience is wearing thin among those demanding to know whether their backyards are cluttered with World War II-era ammunition.

They fear for their safety, their children's safety and their property values.

"My main concern is property value and resale value," said local Realtor Pamela Terrell, who sold two homes at the site of the old Brooksville Turret Gunnery Range.

One house was sold to a family member. The other was sold to a friend.

"They're looking to resell both," she said. "It's not going to be pretty."

More than 60 residents showed up for a meeting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Thursday night at Central High School.

They listened to updates from the government and the contracting firm, Parsons Corporation, which is handling the detection and removal of old rockets and debris.

In 1943, a 10,000-acre pasture - an area that now is filled with thousands of homes, some churches, a few schools and a pet shelter - was once known as the Brooksville Turret Gunnery Range. It was used to train troops during World War II.

In 1946, it ceased being a military site.

The area was cleaned after it closed, but due to the lack of metal-detecting technology and the inability to find ordnance in brush or buried under a foot of dirt and sand, a number of rockets were not found - not until decades later.

Some are still being discovered.

The contractors were pulling up ammunition and debris along Weeping Willow Street, Pinewood Avenue and Greenwood Street and are preparing to move north to an undeveloped parcel of land south of Erma Road.

"The evidence has (pulled) us this way," said Mike Ornella, a spokesman with the Corps of Engineers, who traced a map with his finger.

After one Parsons engineer assured the audience that every foot of property would be scanned for metal, someone asked whether that would include areas underneath homes. He promptly was told it would not.

"I know this causes some anxiety," said Ornella. "There's not a technology out there right now that will allow us to detect that."

Secondly, property owners must give permission in order for engineers to detect and remove debris.

Two residents refused to have engineers and equipment on their property. Another family allowed for a metal detector, but would not let workers dig to remove any of the detected metal. The landowners did not want their landscape ruined, Ornella said.

The entire gunnery range stretches from Cortez Boulevard to an area just south of Centralia Road. From east and west, it goes from Star Road to Fort Dade Avenue.

After Phase I was completed in 2006, 5,571 "anomalies" were detected across 188 acres. There were 284 rockets found - 230 were practice rockets while the remaining 54 were deemed "explosive." Additionally, more than 12,000 pieces of scrap were removed, according to the Corps of Engineers.

Phase II recently was completed across 53 acres. Only two out of the more than 2,700 anomalies were considered explosive.

A total of 226 properties were scanned during both phases.

In all, less than 1 percent of all targets led to the discovery of an explosive rocket, Ornella said.

That provided little solace for some, particularly Wayne Johnson, who lives in a house along Pitcairn Street. He said he found the first rocket on his property 15 years ago and several more dangerous devices are located underneath his driveway.

He claimed he was told years earlier that if something was more than 3 feet deep in the soil, it would not be removed.
Ornella and others denied that was the case. They said once a device is located, it is removed. No questions asked.

After several minutes of arguing, Johnson stormed out of the meeting.

Others worried about the length of time it would take to scan all 10,200 acres of the gunnery range when it already has taken years to search barely more than 1 percent of it.

There also is the case of federal funding. The project relies on the billions of dollars authorized by Congress.

"There are no guarantees," Ornella admitted. "Who knows what Congress will approve in the future?"

A couple of attendees rushed to the defense of Ornella and others who were answering questions Thursday.

"They're just trying to clean up a mess that was dumped on them," said Spring Hill resident James Ziel, who owns property in Brooksville.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5823 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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