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News
Plum Tree Island
Local residents may hear, feel Corps munitions detonation rescheduled for March 25
March 23, 2009
by Jerry Rogers
Norfolk District Public Affairs
FORT NORFOLK, Va. — Residents of Poquoson, Yorktown, Hampton and Langley Air Force Base may hear or feel explosions on March 25, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and its contractor Shaw Environmental, Inc. conduct an on-site munitions detonation at Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge.
The munitions detonation, originally scheduled for March 24, is delayed to Wednesday, March 25, due to forecasted high winds.
The USACE project manager and contractor will coordinate the establishment of a temporary 1,500-yard exclusion zone with the U.S. Coast Guard, Langley Air Force Base and local emergency responders prior to the detonation. Members of the U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge, will be offshore to enforce the exclusion zone.
Additionally, the Coast Guard will publish a Broadcast Notice to Mariners to inform the maritime community of this and future detonations. The on-scene coordinator will monitor VHF channel 16 and 13 and marine broadcasts will air every 15 minutes, one hour prior to closing an area and throughout the detonation sequence. The on-scene coordinator may also expand or reduce the overall size of the exclusion zone as conditions warrant.
This on-site detonation is part of the USACE two-year, two-phase Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study of the former aerial bombing range.
The first phase of USACE fieldwork began Jan. 19 and runs through early April. The fieldwork consists of limited shoreline munitions clearance so the team can safely access and collect geophysical information within the interior of the site, using sub-surface metal detecting. This process will help identify areas that may require future cleanup work.
Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge is formerly known as the Plum Tree Island Range and was used for aerial bombing and gunnery practice from 1917 through the late 1950s. The former bombing range, which consisted of approximately 3,200 acres, was transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1972. With the exception of waterfowl hunting on Cow Island, which was not part of the bombing range, the refuge is closed to all public use due to the potential for encountering unexploded ordnance.
For more information on ongoing fieldwork at Plum Tree Island, visit the Norfolk District Plum Tree Island web site.