November 22, 2008
CENTRAL FLORIDA The Area In Brief
Munitions cleanup continues at Odyssey Middle School
ORLANDO - -The Army Corps of Engineers plans to destroy 17 more pieces of military munitions found on the ranch property behind Odyssey Middle School in southeast Orlando.
The detonation is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. today.
The World War II-era munitions include eight 37-mm projectiles, two 60-mm mortars, four fragmentation bombs, one 6-pound fire bomb, one rocket and one flare.
Since last summer, the Corps has been working in the area of Odyssey, on the ranch property behind the school, and in several neighborhoods built on the western fringe of the former Pinecastle Jeep Range.
More than 100 pieces of ordnance containing live explosives as well as 14 tons of bomb debris have been excavated from the area.
The Corps has spent more than $1 million so far in the cleanup effort and has formed a citizens committee to promote a free flow of information and concerns between area residents and the military.
It is still unclear why a housing development was allowed to be built atop a bombing range.
More than 400 residents have joined in litigation against the home builders.
The latest bombs found were buried several feet underground and posed no immediate threat to people, said Amanda Ellison, a Corps spokeswoman.
Munitions experts plan to use dirt and sandbags piled atop the munitions to reduce the sound, but area residents might hear muffled explosions.
No evacuations are anticipated, and the public is not in danger.
Willoughby Mariano, Rich McKay, Kristen Reed, Denise-Marie Balona and Rachael Jackson of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
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