FORT WORTH, Texas -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has temporarily stopped work on its Munitions and Explosives of Concern Remedial Investigation project.
USACE was recently made aware of public concerns regarding impacts to the project site area and stopped work to evaluate those concerns and determine next steps needed for the project to continue. USACE is working with our contractor, the City of El Paso, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to resolve these issues.
As presented in a public meeting held in June 2018 and in a public notice on September 20, 2018, the USACE is conducting a Remedial Investigation of the Area of Interest North of Castner Range. The AOI is located north of the closed Castner Range and is bounded by Martin Luther King Boulevard on the east and the Franklin Mountains State Park on the west in El Paso, Texas. There are no records showing ownership of the AOI by Fort Bliss; however, multiple munitions debris items were identified during a munitions of explosive concern reconnaissance survey completed by USACE from 2013 to 2015. As a result further investigation was determined to be warranted.
The purpose of the Remedial Investigation is to determine the areas with the greatest density of possible military munitions and explosives of concern and to assess potential hazards posed by any such items. These potential hazards could include both explosive hazards and munitions constituents that may pose a potential risk to human health and the environment. The field investigation on the eastern portion of the site began on June 10, 2019 and included site preparation that would allow detection equipment to access the site for recognition of potential hazards that may be present at the site and allow for potential munitions removal.
Military munitions should be considered extremely hazardous because if touched, moved or disturbed they may explode causing death, serious injury or damage. To protect yourself, your family, your friends and your community, it is important to follow the 3Rs of Explosives Safety should you know or suspect you 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
Report – immediately what you saw and where you saw it to local law enforcement – call 911.
Additional information on this project can be obtained by calling Clay Church at 817-886-1314.
About the Fort Worth District: The Fort Worth District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was established in 1950. The District is responsible for water resources development in two-thirds of Texas, and design and construction at military installations in Texas and parts of Louisiana and New Mexico. Visit the Fort Worth District Web site at: www.swf.usace.army.mil and SWF Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/usacefortworth/.