PUEBLO—The Army Corps of Engineers plans to examine World War II bombing ranges west of La Junta for unexploded bombs as well as contamination from munitions.
Army Air Force B-24s practiced for their missions in Europe, Africa and the Pacific over several areas, blowing craters in the cactus and sagebrush.
On Monday, the Corps will meet with people who live or work in the areas to discuss what happened, the Pueblo Chieftain reported Saturday. There are about 1,000 such ranges across the nation.
For anyone skeptical of the potential threat, the European experience proves it is real. Unexploded munitions as well as bodies of slain soldiers are still found on World War I battlefields.
“The Pueblo ranges are just the next in line,” John Miller, the project manager for the Army Corps, said Friday. “We want to know what happened out there and to do some limited soil testing looking for contamination from explosives.”
He added, “If there is extensive contamination, the project could result in the removal of contaminated soil, but that is a very remote possibility. We haven’t had any complaints about old ordnance at these Pueblo ranges.”
Formally the ranges were known as the Pueblo Air to Ground Gunnery Site, and the Precision Bombing Areas No. 1 and No. 2.
“Some of the land is in the Comanche National Grasslands, but the remainder is owned by approximately 35 private landowners,” Miller said. “We’ve notified them of our interest.”
