HEADQUARTERS

For more than 200 years, our military forces have carried out activities such as training, testing and demonstrations on various properties throughout the United States in preparation to defend our national interests. When the military no longer needed these properties, many were cleaned up according to the best practices available at the time and then transferred to private owners or other government entities. Properties that the Department of Defense used for military purposes and transferred before October 1986 are known as Formerly Used Defense Sites, or FUDS. There are over 4,800 eligible FUDS throughout the United States and its territories.

Given the large number of FUDS, it may be some time before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers addresses the potential hazards at some sites. In the interest of public safety and in accordance with Department of Defense (DOD) Instruction 4715.07 Defense Environmental Restoration Program and DOD Interim Risk Management (IRM) procedures, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is implementing IRM by conducting a Notification and Safety Education initiative at those FUDS where investigations, removal or remedial actions are not planned to be conducted for an extended period of time.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will implement Notification and Safety Education activities at eligible FUDS every five years beginning with FUDS that pose the greatest potential risk. These activities are designed to help reduce impacts to human health, safety and the environment until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is able to initiate required response actions (cleanup). The goal is to educate property owners and others of the actions to take to reduce the risks from hazards that may remain from DOD’s past use of the property.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began implementing Notification and Safety Education initiative in March 2015. The FUDS IRM Notification and Safety Education Map contains information about the states where these activities have been conducted and links to information about individual FUDS.

Follow the 3Rs of Explosives Safety if you suspect you may have come across a military munition.

	Recognize – when you may have come across a munition, and that munitions are dangerous;
	Retreat – do not approach, touch, move, or disturb a suspect munition, but carefully leave the area; and
	Report – immediately what you saw and where you saw it to local law enforcement – call 911.