Unexploded mortar shells left after abandoned base cleaned up

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – An Army contractor charged with cleaning up an abandoned military base left unexploded shells beneath leaves and dirt instead of removing and destroying them, state and military officials said Tuesday.

Cleanup work at Fort McClellan in Anniston was halted Friday after the discovery.

State regulators said a July 21 inspection of a wooded area on the property uncovered 13 mortar rounds that were supposed to have been removed for disposal by Tetra Tech FW Inc. Instead, the rounds appeared to have been concealed behind trees, and some were covered with leaves and soil.

Clint Niemeyer, a spokesman with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, said the discovery raised questions about whether more old shells were hidden. The state ordered the Army to inspect land within 100 feet of previously cleaned areas to determine whether additional rounds were present.

Gary Harvey, manager of the Army office in charge of the cleanup, said the workers felt pressed for time and left the shells in an area where they thought they would be located and destroyed later. But rules require the immediate destruction of any found shell, he said.

The military is investigating, said Tim White, a spokesman with the Army Corps of Engineers.

Tetra Tech already has done $34 million worth of work under a five-year, $50 million contract to remove unexploded ordnance from an area that had been used for weapons practice at Fort McClellan, White said.

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