Star Staff Writer
An old munition found at McClellan’s Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge last week contains only rust and dirt, not chemical agent as was feared, test results show.
“We got the final report,” said Gary Harvey, the Army’s site manager for McClellan’s transition force. “It’s got nothing in it, it’s scrap metal, continue to work.”
The howitzer round was found during cleanup of a former chemical training site within the refuge. Contractors thought the 2-foot-long, 100-pound round made a sloshing noise when it was moved.
A team from the U.S. Army Technical Escort Unit was on site this weekend to X-ray the round and confirmed that other items found in the area were empty.
“Those were all good as well,” Harvey said.
Another leftover from operations at the former military post, a vial containing a mustard agent component, was discovered during cleanup at the end of November.
The vial may be destroyed next week, Harvey said.
Fort McClellan closed in 1999 and is being cleaned and redeveloped for local use. Environmental concerns there include unexploded munitions, groundwater contamination and old chemical training items.