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. |
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