Los Angeles -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host a public meeting to provide information and accept comments about the upcoming ordnance study on property formerly known as Williams Field Bomb Target Range #6. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m., Tuesday, February 4, 2003 at the Pinal County Administrative Building A, 31 North Pinal St., Florence, Ariz. Sign-in will be from 6:30-7:00 p.m.

The study is designed to determine the presence and extent of ordnance and explosives items remaining in the former range, and to make recommendations for future actions based on the results. The Corps’ Los Angeles District; the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Ala.; and USA Environmental, Inc., a private contractor, are scheduled to begin the study of the approximately 640-acre former bomb target range in 2003. The former range is located 22 miles east of Florence, Ariz.
 
In the early part of WWII, the U.S. West Coast Air Force Training Center constructed the former Williams Field Bomb Target Range #6 for the Bombardier Training Program based at the former Williams Army Air Field (AAF), Higley, Ariz. The Training Center used approximately 640-acres of land owned by the state of Arizona to construct the former Bomb Target Range #6. Records indicate that the range was used as a practice-bombing target for the cadets in the Bombardier Training Program based at Williams Army Air Field and possibly cadets at the Deming Army Air Field, N.M.  The target was no longer used after the bombardier-training program ended in September 1946.

Currently, the former target is located on open land belonging to the Arizona State Land Department and private interests. The property is mainly used for cattle grazing and private residences.
 
For more information about the meeting or the project, call at the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, at (213) 452-3923.