Summary

The Defense Department has been operating military training ranges over parts of Lake Michigan for more than 30 years. In April 1991, the Police Department in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, was notified of a suspicious-looking object on the shore of Lake Michigan, not far from a busy shopping center; military officials later identified the object as a fully armed, air-to-air Sidewinder missile that fishermen had pulled up in a net and later discarded on the beach. Two months later, an unarmed aircraft rocket was retrieved from Lake Michigan, also near Sheboygan. This report examines various aspects of these incidents, including whether mariners are informed of potential hazards and the adequacy of the responses to the ordnance findings.

GAO found that: (1) in April 1991, military officials identified a fully armed air-to-air AIM-98 Sidewinder Missile on the shoreline of Lake Michigan and on June 1991, an unarmed aircraft rocket was retrieved from the lake; (2) at least 279 AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles were fired in a Department of Defense (DOD) firing range over Lake Michigan between September 1965 and October 1970, but records on those firings do not indicate the number of armed missiles that exploded in the air or the number that fell into the water unexploded; (3) since 1970, the range has been used primarily for air-to-air gunnery exercises using bullets fired at towed targets; (4) the location of the range is shown on aviation charts but not on nautical charts; (5) although mariners can receive information on upcoming military exercises, no information is available on ordnance, unexploded or otherwise, which may exist in Lake Michigan; (6) the Coast Pilot manual does not provide instructions on what actions mariners should take if they find unexploded ordnance; (7) an unexploded AIM-9B Sidewinder missile still poses a hazard after being submerged in water because the explosive material in the warhead was designed for underwater applications and does not dissolve in water; (8) DOD operates explosive ordnance disposal units in each branch of the military service around the country to respond to and retrieve ordnance when it is found; and (9) local police, Coast Guard, and Army units demonstrated the adequacy of ordnance disposal procedures when they responded within minutes of notification to safeguard and dispose of the live Sidewinder and the unarmed rocket.