Grenade range clean up

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Lou Burton
  • 482nd Fighter WIng Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  A rich history of aircraft, missions, and people surround Homestead Air Reserve Base. Dating back to 1942, a world of change has passed through the current Fighter base, leaving behind physical reminders of the past. Some of these memories are fond reminders, while others have the potential to be deadly inhibitors. Thanks to an aggressive Air Force campaign to have all Major Commands investigate potential munitions sites and make sure they are properly cleared out, Homestead ARB is at the forefront of this task .

"We have two areas being cleaned up. One is a small area that once was our base firing range. It is a small plot of land and relatively simple to clean up. The other area, however; is a grenade range that is a 20 acre area on the western side of the base, north of Phantom Lake and west of Customs and Border Protection. This area is more complicated of a process to clean up," said Michael Andrejko, 482nd Civil Engineering Restoration Program Manager.

The project began Feb 14 and due to the potential risk of clearing a grenade range, a team of experts have been brought in. The company, CAPE Environmental, is a private organization comprised of former Military members with explosive clearing experience.

"Upon our preliminary assessment and site inspection, nothing serious has turned up," said Richard Norton, Sr. Unexploded Ordnance Supervisor for CAPE Environmental. "Even still, we have not finished a thorough and proper inspection of the area so it is still off limits to everyone. In any old site there is always the potential for UXO's. That is why we have experts cleaning up the area."

Should any live items be found in the area, the CAPE team will blow up any explosive ordinance they find in the exact area it is recovered.

"The rule is, if you didn't drop it, don't pick it up," said Charles Chambers, Site Safety and Quality Control Officer for CAPE Environmental.

In order to get the project started, all of the vegetation growing over the area had to be cleared. The area is full of non native, invasive plants.

Complicating the matter, several plants in the area are listed on the state and federal environmental protection list, which causes delay due to the fact that the area cannot just be cleared, these protected plants species have to be preserved.

"The Florida Pine is a protected plant species which must be marked and flagged before we clear the area," said Mr. Norton. "This means we can't just blindly clear the area, we have to ensure these plants are preserved during our process."

"Our clean up here is actually a pilot study for the Air Force," said Mr. Andrejko. "In the end, our hope for this space is to ensure the property is safe. The ultimate goal for the land is to have it used with no restrictions. "

"Thus far they have recovered 410lbs of non munitions scrap and 4lbs of munitions scrap," said Mr. Norton.