Victory over Hazard

Newsroom

Winter 2006
This is an archived article. Facts and links are current as of publication date.

The U.S. military trains as it fights, under realistic battle conditions. After years of training with battlefield weapons, unexploded ordnance, discarded munitions and other substances remain on many former ranges and training sites throughout the United States. The Army is addressing these hazards in a continuing effort to preserve the environment while protecting the nation.

Every Acre Counts
The Army Range Inventory Program, 2000-2003, collected information on more than 10,500 operational ranges and all defense sites known to or suspected of containing unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions and military constituents, 15.2 million acres in all. The Army began collecting updated operational range data from each installation on a two-to-five-year cycle in 2004. For properties no longer used by the military, the inventory data is used as the basis for the Military Munitions Response Program.

Cleaning Up the Past For the Future
The Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) manages environmental, health and safety issues presented by unexploded ordnance, discarded munitions and their byproducts.
The MMRP identifies and investigates the need for munitions cleanup action on no-longer-used military sites. The program considers potential environmental, health and safety issues presented by these materials as it identifies and prioritizes sites for response.
The program's extensive database draws information from the Army Range Inventory, Base Realignment and Closure, and Formerly Used Defense Sites programs.
That information directs preliminary assessments to focus the Army's response on the sites with the most risk potential, a task to be completed by October 2007. Full assessments of all possible cleanup sites are due by October 2010.
The program also tracks the cost to complete the response on all affected sites, currently estimated at $18.1 billion.

Tuning the Technology
The development of technology to discriminate between unexploded ordnance and nonhazardous materials will enable more efficient site cleanup. The U.S. Army Standardized Unexploded Ordnance Technology Demonstration Sites program promotes the development of this technology at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., and Yuma Proving Ground, Az. The two sites offer calibration areas with known targets, blind test areas cluttered with inert debris, and open forest or desert to simulate real conditions, for developers to test discrimination hardware and methods.

The most common categories of munitions found on MMRP ranges, by number of ranges where they were used

Where We're Responding The Military Munitions Response Program encompasses more than 3,300 sites, covering 28 million acres, some dating to the 17th century. The era covering World Wars I and II and the Korean conflict was responsible for most of the buildup. The program doesn't include ranges closed after 2002, or areas still in use today.
Acres of MMRP land by state
Over 3 million acres	100,000-500,000 acres
1-3 million acres	10,000-100,000 acres
500,000-1 million acres	Less than 10,000 acres

Resources for Victory
For information on the Military Munitions
Response Program, visit the USAEC
cleanup Web site at http://aec.army.mil/usaec/cleanup/.
For UXO technology information, visit http://aec.army.mil/usaec/technology/uxo00.html. For UXO safety resources, visit https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/ Library/Explosives/UXOSafety/uxosafety.html.
Call the Army Environmental Hotline at
1-800-872-3845.

1. Recognize Recognize unexploded ordnance (UXO). Leave it alone! Don't touch it. Don't throw anything at it. Don't use a device that could transmit a triggering radio frequency, such as a cell phone.
2. Retreat If you find something that could be UXO, don't touch it. Leave the area. Don't use a device that could transmit a radio frequency. It doesn't matter how old and rusty or new and shiny UXO is, UXO is always dangerous and could injure or kill you. Don't take any chances. Leave the area.

3. Report If you find something that could be UXO, report what you saw and where you saw it to the police, or call 911. Reporting it can save another person from injury or death. Report anything you think could be UXO.

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