[CPEO-MEF] LOADS destroys ordnance at Ft. A.P. Hill (VA)

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

New technology helps clear away unexploded ordnance

By Mary Bodine
Army News Service
April 26, 2005

FORT A.P. HILL, Va. -- New technology now being used at Fort A.P. Hill,
Va., promises to revolutionize unexploded ordnance removal and even
generate revenue from recycling the material.

The Lightweight Ordnance and Armaments Demilitarization System, or
LOADS, is a mobile machine designed to crush or cut inert ordnance and
make it acceptable for salvage or recycling, said John J. Stine,
director of Demilitarization Services Division, UXB International, Inc.
? the company that designed LOADS. 

LOADS is being used on Fort A.P. Hill to remove about two tons of inert
ordnance ? some dated from the 1940s -- for a range upgrade project,
said Gregory Quimby, project manager, AMEC Earth and Environmental,
Inc., the company responsible for the range design, construction, and
its environmental remediation. The range is being converted from an
anti-armor range to a multipurpose machine gun range. UXO clearance on
the range was necessary for new construction, he added. 

"We took the construction footprint for the range modifications and
conducted a surface clearance," Quimby said. "If the UXO was live, we
flagged it for detonation, which will be done with explosives; if it was
nonhazardous UXO, we collected it and consolidated it in a central
location for LOADS processing."

AMEC also used electromagnetic scanning and geophysical surveys to clear
10 acres of UXOs buried less than two feet in the ground, Quimby added.
About 30 acres of surface land was cleared for the project. 

Once the ordnance is processed through LOADS, it will be collected,
smelt and recycled, Stine said. Revenue generated from recycling is
credited to client's account, resulting in a cost-savings for the
military, he added. 

Traditional methods of UXO removal were burying or burning munitions on
the range, Stine said. 

"We knew there had to be a better way of removing UXOs from training
areas," he added. "From blank paper to operation, it only took 18 months
to build LOADS. We began testing it in late 2002 and started using it
immediately after that. There have been four modifications on the
system, expanding the types and sizes of munitions it can handle."

On the Fort A.P. Hill project, LOADS will cut or crush 40-mm grenades,
60-mm mortars, 81-mm mortars, 3.5-inch rockets and other munitions
remnants, Quimby said. 

"This technology will enhance the way ranges are cleared in the future,"
he said. "Because it is mobile, we will be able to clear more ranges,
safer. Although the machine is not designed to process live ordnance ?
everything has to be inert ? by passing it through the machine, you can
be sure that it is rendered safe. If there is a live round, the machine
can certainly absorb the impact better than the human body." 

The LOADS system has revolutionized UXO clearance and eventually will
replace the "bury or burn" method altogether, Stine said. 

(Mary A. Bodine serves with Fort A.P. Hill Public Affairs. Fort A.P.
Hill is a 76,000-acre installation specializing in training and
maneuver, and live-fire operations.)  

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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