School States Nearby Bombs Not A Threat
POSTED: Monday, August 20, 2007
UPDATED: 9:49 am EDT August 20,
2007
Parents of students at an Orange County middle school are being reassured that bombs and munitions recently found at a nearby property are not a safety threat as the school year begins Monday.
Odyssey Middle School in Orange County, Fla., was constructed near property that used to be owned by the military, which used it as a practice range.
Recently, in an area located about 1,500 feet from the school on private property, an owner found four bombs and other munitions.
The Army Corps of Engineers said it was safe to go to Odyssey Middle School over the weekend.
"I would sit in the school myself and I would send my grandkids here," Army Corp of Engineers representative Charles Fales said.
Last week, the first leg of magnetic and soil tests were completed and there were no signs of any World War II-era bombs on the surface of school grounds.
However, the Army Corps of Engineers said it does not have all the answers as to what is underground.
"There is a possibility that something may be here," Fales said.
It will take at least three or four more weeks to find out whether there are any unexploded or leaking bombs below the surface, WKMG-TV reported.
A huge fence was erected to keep students out of the old bombing range behind the school where live bomb and munitions were found.
"When they are on our property and under our supervision, and they jump that fence, we are going to have an issue,"Orange County Schools attorney Frank Kruppenbacher said. "We are responsible for the students in our custody and care."
The rental fence is a temporary solution, the report said.
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